Metro Transit hires security contractor for six of its transit stations

The agency that runs Metro Transit, the Metropolitan Council, voted unanimously last Wednesday to advance a contract with a Philadelphia-area security firm, Allied Universal, to provide security services for six of its beleaguered transit stations. 

The one-year contract, with an option for the Met Council to extend it by another year if successful, will allow the security firm to deploy unarmed security guards at the Franklin and Lake Street Blue Line stations in Minneapolis, as well as the Brooklyn Center Transit Center, Central Green Line station in downtown St. Paul, and the Uptown Transit Station and the Chicago-Lake Transit Center off of Lake Street in South Minneapolis. 

The Met Council anticipates two guards being stationed at each of the six transit stations from 12 to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with 24/7 patrols at Franklin Station. The entire contract value, if fully executed, is $6 million. Metro Transit anticipates Allied Universal deploying its security guards at its six transit stations in the next two months. 

Safety issues mount

The security contract comes at a time when Metro Transit faces safety and quality-of-life issues dogging its infrastructure. Three of the stations have been the site of violent crimes in the past three months, including one assault each at Uptown Transit Station and Lake Street/Midtown Station in the past month, as well as a shooting that killed one person at the Central Station in December. 

To clamp down on safety issues, the agency last year began closing Brooklyn Center Transit Center earlier in the evenings. They also completely closed the Central Station elevator tower last December, the indoor waiting areas at Chicago-Lake Transit Center closest to Chicago Avenue in November, and the Uptown Transit Station last Thursday. At the Lake Street/Midtown and Franklin stations, Bloomington-based BelCom is patrolling them until this May. BelCom did not submit a bid for the contract. 

They need security

The agency decided to move forward with expanding its security presence beyond Lake and Franklin stations, after Metro Transit Police Officer Jason Lindner reported at the Met Council’s Transportation Committee meeting on March 13 that having BelCom patrol its Franklin Station beginning in September led to a 20 percent decrease in police being called, as well as “positive customer and employee feedback, and a reduction in service-related issues.” Metro Transit did not say how much impact security presence had on ridership at both stations, as well as on calls for police service at Lake Street/Midtown Station.

The I-35W and Lake Street Station, which became overrun with loiterers in recent months, some of whom do drugs, are not among the stations designated to be patrolled under the Allied Universal contract. However, the agency says the contract allows for flexibility for security officers to be deployed to other transit stations. 

Although the Met Council and its transportation committee unanimously decided to award the contract to Allied Universal last week, some council members expressed concerns about how the firm would be held accountable, considering the agency could not negotiate a contract with Allied Universal without the council and committee’s blessing. 

There were also concerns about how much the officers would be paid by the contractor, if they would compete with the agency as it seeks to fill its own police ranks, and whether or not the officers are unionized. In addition, there were concerns about what uniforms they would wear, how they would communicate with one another, and how their conduct would mesh with the agency’s culture. “I don’t want to be setting up forts,” said Met Councilmember John Pacheco, who represents Southwest Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Golden Valley, Crystal and New Hope.

What is Allied Universal?

Allied Universal is the largest security firm in the world and was formed through the merger of Allied Security and Universal Services of America in 2016. In recent years, they have acquired local security providers in San Francisco, Hawaii, South Carolina and New York, as well as larger providers such as London-based G4S, which was formerly the largest security firm in the world. The company has contracts to patrol transit agencies in Portland, Ore., San Diego, Calif., Denver, Co., Miami-Dade County, Fla., and Philadelphia. 

A glance at Allied Universal’s metro-area job postings found their entry-level positions start between $14 to $18 per hour. Some of their positions elsewhere are unionized. Although Allied has a dedicated curriculum for their transit security officers, the Met Council doesn’t have specifics because they can’t ask until the contract is approved. 

While Allied security guards patrolling other transit agencies wear customized uniforms, Officer Lindner says the Allied guards will wear a uniform that identifies them as being associated with Allied Universal. At last Wednesday’s meeting, Lindner also said that security guards would be provided cell phones that they can use to dial Metro Transit Police’s dispatch, should they need assistance, including social workers. 

Allied Universal security guards patrolling a university dorm in Baltimore raised concerns over a similar arrangement in light of a shooting that killed one of their own last September.

At other security sites, Allied Universal has also had a reputation for using excessive force in some of the areas it patrols. Its guards have seriously assaulted–and in some cases, shot–transit riders in Denver, San Diego, Miami and two incidents in Philadelphia, over minor issues such as not paying the fare or loitering. 

Allied Universal did not respond to these allegations. Met Council’s procurement director, Jody Jacoby, said at last Wednesday’s meeting that the references Allied Universal provided, which included Metro State University, were “very positive,” because they intervened as Metro State dismissed an underperforming contractor. They also pointed out that Allied Universal will have liability insurance, something the Met Council requires. 

Dezaray Kido welcomes the prospect of security guards at Central Station. “It’s a good effort to try to make it safe,” said Kido as she waited for the light rail at Central on her way home from her sister’s place. “I feel like [having security guards will] stop a lot of the nonsense that goes on [the light rail].”