Washington Metro employees are concerned over the rising levels of violence conflicting with public safety after a shooting left one of their members dead.
There have been four Metro shootings reported this year, and two occurred in less than 24 hours at the end of December 2022. The most recent occurred on Feb. 1 after Isaiah Trotman, 31, went on a shooting rampage that ended at Potomac Avenue Metro station. Metro employee Robert Cunningham attempted to stop Trotman and was fatally shot. He was the company’s first worker loss in over 20 years.
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He is not the only Metro operator who has recently had to put themselves in harm’s way to save passengers. During an FBI-agent-involved shooting at Metro Center in December, train operator Victoria Stanley pulled away from the platform without opening the doors after hearing shots fired.
Stanley, who has worked for Metro for 16 years, said she prays daily for her safety and that of her passengers.
“We are dealing with the public, and you never know what to expect from day to day,” she said after an award ceremony honoring the heroics of her and other employees. “When you leave home, your main goal is to get back home to your loved ones.”
“So during the day, you just have to really pray up because you don’t know what you’re going to face out there in the streets,” Stanley added.
After two children were shot in early January while exiting a Metro 54 bus, the bus operator “quickly got the victims plus others that were in danger back on that bus” and drove several blocks away to get them all to safety.
“That’s the incredible people that work in Metro day in and day out and serve the community,” Metro General Manager Randy Clarke said.
However, operators are starting to worry about the increase in levels of crime at transit stations. Metro saw a 33% increase in violent crime in 2022. At the end of January 2022, Metro Transit Police arrested 73 people, compared to 179 already in January 2023.
There were 15 aggravated assaults, two homicides, and 94 simple assaults in January 2023. Most of the time, homicides that occur on Metro property are investigated by other law enforcement and are not included in the data.
Barry Wilson, a bus operator and union representative, told the DCist crime was bad in the ’80s and ’90s but that he believes it is getting worse.
“I haven’t seen it, in my 23-year tenure, as bad as it’s getting right now,” Wilson said.
Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Anzallo said he’s putting more plainclothes officers on buses to handle altercations and assaults. Metro, like most of the nation, is suffering a hiring problem, he said.
“We have to be strategic about how we deploy [officers we have],” Anzallo told the DCist. “My preference is deploying where there has been violent crime.”
The number of officers has already visibly increased at stations with heavy traffic, such as Metro Center, Gallery Place, and L’Enfant Plaza.
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Clarke said, to aid his workers, he is adding more police patrols, cameras, and mental health specialists to fix some of the problems hopefully and bring in more customers to renew their faith in the Metro system, which still has not recovered from low ridership as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s nothing I care about more than the safety of our staff and our customers,” Clarke said. “I tell you right now that management team, myself, others, the board — the ultimate stress is making sure our customers and our staff are safe every day.”
