Metro General Manager Randy Clarke said there’s no security threat to the region as officials gear up for Fourth of July weekend.
But, as he gave reporters a look inside the operations at the transit system’s Integrated Command and Communications Center in Alexandria, Virginia, he pointed to a bank of massive screens lining the walls of the facility.
“When you’re in the field, you can kind of see what you can see and what you hear on the radio,” he said.
“We’re omnipresent. We’re everywhere. And that’s kind of the message we want to deliver to the community, which is: If you are on this system, we care about your safety. And if you are trying to use this system and you are doing something wrong, you will be seen and you are going to get caught,” Clarke added.
To drive home his point, Clarke pointed to Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Anzallo and Deputy Chief Maurice McKinney and said, “These people behind us are going to catch you because we can see what you are doing.”
Clarke said there are 30,000 cameras across the system in stations, on buses and on trains. He pointed out that Metro’s crime stats are low, with the system on pace to show a record low.
“A big component of that is our great transit police department, but also our video operations,” Clarke said.
There have been system upgrades added to Metro since last year’s Fourth of July celebration, when Clarke said there were about 465,000 riders on Metro on the holiday.
“There’s no threat to the Washington metropolitan area. However, with events going on in the world, we do have to be vigilant,” Anzallo told WTOP.
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