Mary, you wrote:

"The crime rate has crept up – but the city ‘s population has also surged as has its crime rate."

Crept up? According to KHOU, overall crime at Metro facilities rose 32 percent last year. Robberies were up 400 percent.

Why did you neglect to include the most relevant crime statistics, namely those from 2005 and 2006?

Why do you characterize a 32 percent rise in crime as a "creep," but a 7 percent increase in population as a "surge?"

Mary, the simple fact of the matter is however that a camera cannot run across the lot and grab the bad guy or shout a warning to an unsuspecting woman who is about to be raped. A security guard can. And $2.7 Mil. is still a whole lot cheaper than $16 Mil., even my kindergarten age daughter can figure that out. And the part about the costs of communications, supervision and command structure is a straw man, since those who monitor the cameras have to be able to communicate and must be supervised as well. Lambert is full of it if he thinks this is not removing the human element. It is and this is a stupid and wasteful idea. But neither  you nor Lambert answered the fundamental question: Why is METRO police not patrolling the lots instead of contract security or cameras? That is their  purpose for existence and yet they are failing to do the very thing they were created to do to begin with. Therefore METRO's police department is a misappropriation of public funds. How long does it take to respond to a problem? 5 minutes? 10? an hour? What if the victim is bleeding to death? At least a security guard can perform First Aid while waiting for paramedics, a camera cannot. Is the next thing that Lambert is going to say that everyone using the Park and Rides should have a Concealed Carry Permit? That's not a bad idea I might add, but that is not what the chief of the transit police should be saying and that is exactly what he DID said a few months back.

The taxpayers of this city demand protection. Cameras do not provide that. METRO can either use their police force for what it was created for, or you can just disband it and save us the money. But METRO can't have it both ways. We won't allow it. Sitting their car asleep (yeah, I have the pictures as do a lot of other people.) or running radar intercepts on public roadways is not what METRO's police force is for.

A very good afternoon to you Purple Rose.

I enjoyed the post.

First, nothing beats armed boots on the ground when it comes to discouraging the roving bands of predators.  METRO has well trained officers.

METRO moved out of 120K square feet of office space over a year ago into a 14-story building with about 250K square feet of space to house future bureaucrats.  You likely are now ensconced in one of those cavernous windowed offices.  Transtar is also expanding for the London-style "Big Brother" camera-in-every-nook-and-cranny bureaucracy the City and METRO is evolving into.

I ask you, when the criminals pillage the vehicles, doesn't METRO have to send the police to file the reports?  You have to have a "presence" sooner or later!

The banditos can easilly defeat the gates, hurdle the fence, and disable or steal the high-tech gadgets and toys METRO bought with our precious tax money.

As Rube Goldberg often said: "No matter how thin you slice it, it's still baloney!"

Uh yeah,

I never felt safe with "flashlight cops" in the Park and Rides!

Add to that the delay in getting ANY kind of police to a P&R due to the fact that they have dang near a 30+ minute delay to get to a bus crash...

Chills me to the bone.

MPD is a great collection of officers restricted by Houston Transtar dispatchers who (if they ever respond to calls from operators)seem to have it in their heads that they know what is best for the system..hey... if you are in dispatch you have proved that you cannot do anything else..

"however that a camera cannot run across the lot and grab the bad guy or shout a warning to an unsuspecting woman who is about to be raped."

Infact, the camera cannot do that, but the camera would alert the monitoring police officer of the activity.  The police officer can alert the potential crime victim through a PA system and deploy a unit to the site.

I invite you to read more about this system.  It is very sophisticated.  Mary included links in her posting today.

Cameras that are monitored at a remote location.

No on site response staff.

Having to make a call to Metro PD or other law enforcement.

Having to wait for those people to respond to the call.

Keeping all of the gates open at the P&R lots 24/7

Not real smart.  You wonder why the crime is up at Metro lots?  well when you have a P&R lot with 4 access points that are all open, with oh maybe 300+ un attended vehicles sitting around what young criminal would want to pass that opportunity.  Again this is a perfect example of Metro Management not using their heads, first in eliminating the on site security who would limit access to the lot's during the majority of the day, but were also on site and at times visable.  

Dumb, really dumb folks you were penny wise and pound foolish on this one.  And now they are trying to cover thier backsides with this 16 Million Dollar half-baked solution.

Sandra, re your comments

<blockquote>Infact, the camera cannot do that, but the camera would alert the monitoring police officer of the activity.  The police officer can alert the potential crime victim through a PA system and deploy a unit to the site.</blockquote>

How many vandals are going to stop if they hear someone yelling at them through a speaker.  Most would probably attempt to disable the equipemnt and go right on with their crime....

Hmmmmm,

I would ask where the $$$$ for the Onboard Homeland Security cameras is at rumor has it that the green was received...Not many busses have them.. so where did the bux get to?

wi11ie

Sandra, and if the poor raped and stabbed or shot woman is bleeding to death, the camera operator can do nothing but watch as she bleeds out waiting for the paramedics. Sophistication does not equal effectiveness. In fact usually it is just the opposite. And in this case, it is a wasteful and dangerous project. It costs more and provides less and you call this good? What color is the sky on your planet? Purple?

Apparently METRO has never heard of the KISS principle. As a Mechanical designer, I must apply it every day. The likelihood of a system's failure is inversely proportional to it's complexity.

A camera cannot compensate for an armed pair of boots on the ground. And two pair of boots are more than twice as effective as one pair. How many Park and Rides does METRO operate? 15? 20? I figure the average Metro officer costs something on the order of $80-90K a year in salary and benefits and if you stationed two  at each park and ride in three shifts, I calculate the costs at $10.8 million, still far less than the $16 that the equipment alone costs (not counting the watcher's salaries and their supervisor's salaries) and the effectiveness will be at least 10 times what the cameras are. You cant get away from the math here, no matter how much you might try.

Sandra, shouldn't you identify yourself as a Metro PR employee when you come out to defend your employer?

You wrote:

"The police officer can alert the potential crime victim through a PA system and deploy a unit to the site."

I don't think that would be very comforting to the victim. I can just hear the voice over the PA:

"Ma'am, stay calm and give the robber your valuables. A Metro police officer will be there soon to take your statement and/or photograph your corpse for evidence."

A human presence can both witness and prevent a crime in progress.

A camera can document a crime as its happening, but not prevent it.

All customers are now potential victims.

Did METRO run unannounced tests of the cameras to test officer response times? What were those response times? Did the camera operators catch the activity on tape at all? What was the quality of the image when it came time for the identification phase of the investigation?

Care to share on this nice new blog, or will another Freedom Of Information Act request need to be filed?

Matt:

Indeed I am a METRO "PR employee", as you state it.  I thought my profile information indicated that, but then I clicked on your name and did not see a profile, so maybe the profile information does not show up for everyone (?).  Every now and then I will make a comment, and will make sure to state that I am a METRO employee.  

About defending my employer, I don't know you, but I work for my employer "on purpose".  It's not that I defend public transit because I work for a transit agency, but rather I work for METRO because I believe in public transit.  And you know what?  I've found that my co-workers feel that way, too.

Bweldon and others:  

Following your loginc, how many "bad guys" are going to stop at an unarmed guy saying "hey, stop there, or I will call the police"?  

"The security guards who sat in the guard shacks on METRO’s Park and Ride lots were never trained officers from METRO’s police department. They were contract security guards who were “trained to use the telephone – use their eyes and ears to call in a report,” said Capt. Tim Kelly of MPD."

"The guards had no arrest authority and were unarmed."

The camera system is not there merely to replace police officers.  They are a tool to make police work more effective.  In addition, camera's are better than a pair of eyes when it's time for prosecutors to present evidence.

Rorschach:

Regarding the color on "my planet", how about keeping this dialogue about transit instead of making incisive comments about those who do not share our views?  

All:

Dissenting comments are all very valuable, but when we begin insulting, we lose credibility.  We don't need to insult someone to argue a different perspective.  All we need is reason.

Sandra, I have seen more people stopped by an unarmed person yelling stop than I have ever seen from a camera going "whirr" as it pans to look at them.  If you want to talk about beat cops as a deterent to crime look at NYC.  Seems to be working there.  As for your problems with the form of discussion, welcome to the internet.  What I have seen on here is extremely tame compared to many sites.

Sandra, thanks for your quick response.

If cameras work, why did robberies rise 400 percent last year? Why did overall crime on Metro turf "creep up" by 32 percent?

Sandra you STILL have not addressed the fundamental question of where is METRO PD in all this? THEY should be on the ground patrolling constantly in the park and ride lots, Not a camera and not a security guard. NEITHER is the appropriate response. Not running radar or sleeping in their cars (do I need to email you the pictures?). Lambert is bound and determined to shovee these cameras down everyone's throats, I suppose because technology is "sexy", and beat cops patrolling is not. but the fundamental fact neither you nor Lambert can run away from is that cops get the job done for less money and the cameras don't. it really does not get any simpler than that. But even if that were not true, let's just pretend it isn't true for a moment. NONE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS BELIEVE IT. And perception IS reality. You are in PR, You of all people should understand that concept. If people see cops wandering about, they will FEEL safe. if people see only cameras, they will feel unsafe. It really does not get any simpler than that.

And you know, people would not mind if you spent 32 million a year as long as it was on cops patrolling and not on gadgets. This is an inappropriate expenditure and everyone OUTSIDE the Brown transit edifice knows it. Why is it so hard to get you to understand when you are wrong?

Have you all forgotten who you work for? I'm not sure you EVER knew.

Here is a hint, it isn't the camera vendor.

I guess it would be better to constuct 16 foot high fences topped with razorwire around the entire perimeter of each P&R,armed guards on all 4 corners with access to only card holders in and out.

But what fun is that?

Seriously, the problems at the P&Rs come not from a lack of police patrols, but from the criminal element that resides with us here in Harris and the surrounding counties.

I am not sure that cameras are the answer but REAL judges that convict criminals and jail them is.

wi11ie

Matt:

Last year METRO began the installation of this new system.

Rorschach:

METRO PD has not stopped patrolling because of the new system.

Yes I know who I work for.  I am a public servant.

Sandra, driving past once in a while is not patrolling in the sense that I and everyone else here means, we mean 24 hour/7 day a week two man presence. There is not a single thing METRO PD does that takes precedence over securing P&R lots. NOTHING. Metro PD has more than enough manpower to do this, but instead of doing so, they are tasked with running radar and watching the HOV lanes for cheaters. Now THAT is a prime candidate for automation, not P&R Security. When my wife gets out of her car she wants to see a man with a Glock strapped to his hip. Not a camera on a post waiting for some punk to shoot it off the pole. If that is what the public wants, and the public is willing to pay for it, which I assure you, the public would overwhelmingly support that, that is exactly what the public should be getting. That is the function of a public servant, to give the public what it wants, not tell the public what you think it needs. People are smart enough to figure out what they need all by themselves. As I said before, it does not even MATTER whether the cop is better at deterring crime or not, People (and that includes the criminals by the way.) THINK they do, therefore they do. And do not misunderstand, when I say "do you people remember who you work for" I am not directing it at you specifically, I am directing it at DeMontrond, Wilson, Lambert, and all the other people on the METRO board who's only qualification for being there is being a political friend (or more accurately, campaign contributor) of someone in a position of power. They were not elected, but yet they have an inordinate amount of power and are unaccountable and unresponsive to the public. We the people did not hire them. They still think that they don't even have to abide by a legally binding election. They are in for a surprise when the lawsuits are filed.

BTW, if somebody cheats on the HOV, nobody dies. if somebody is shot at a P&R and there isn't a cop to deter the crime or at a minimum provide first aid, somebody just might die, That is what I mean about nothing else takes precedence.

Mary or Sandra:

 Where can I go to find the specifics on the camera systems installed? I am a police officer who deals with surveillance video on a daily basis, and I have seen very few systems that can reproduce a criminal event with enough detail to locate and/or arrest a suspect without other leads (usually an eyewitness or even fingerprint evidence).

 Since P&R lots have such a large area needing coverage, factors such as resolution, focus, and lighting would have to be almost perfect to get details such as license plate numbers or even an accurate suspect description.  The number of cameras at each location would also have to be sufficient to ensure that an event would be recorded even if the remote viewer did not have his camera panned and zoomed on the suspect.  Then there is a matter of storing the video data. A 640x480 30fps (if the feed is even near that good) video stream generates a tremendous amount of data... especially when that data comes from 20 cameras at each lot recording 24/7.  For delayed reports, it would also have to be stored for a significant amount of time.

 Does Metro have a Forensic Video Lab or someone who processes the video evidence for presentation in court? For that matter, has video (or still images) from the P&R cameras been introduced in a criminal trial yet?

 Please provide the contact info for the Metro PD video expert (by email if necessary).

Thanks,

Dave

Ms. Sitt and Ms. Salazar,

The cameras positioned at the entry gates of the Park and Pillage Lots seem to be oriented so as to focus and capture the front vehicle license plate and the windsheild Registration and Inspection placards.

Seems to me METRO is assiting the Mayor in the never-ending quest for fine revenue if these cameras are merely scanning for expired stickers, and ticket scofflaws.

If there are so many cameras at each lot, and there are 20 lots, and an unknown number of transit stops and platforms being monitored, it would not take long before the person(s) watching the monitors are dozing.

I shall assume you both commute to work and neither of you were luck enough to access any one of the six parking spaces, under the Lee. P. Brown Administration building, and, thus must park and ride a METRO vehicle to the building.

Before either of you two guzzle any more of that grape (purple) METRO Kool Aid I ask you..."If you were walking alone, especially after dark, to your vehicle, and a one ore more vicious predators surprise and confront you before you can enter your vehicle; would you feel more comfortable knowing there was a high-tech video system recording the violent assault/abduction so your family can watch a home video afterwards, or, knowing there is one or more guards randomly patrolling the lot on a continuous basis and could foil the felony about to be perpetrated upon you?"

Ms. Mary,

Well I do see some improvement here, only because you are a fairly intelligent individual.  

This is what I see so far:  Metro hired someone who "is new to blogging" and therefore does not know the difference between a blog and a newspaper.  This person also does NOT know the proper way to operate the blog software, having to learn it from another web employee while on the job.  Therefore, Metro already screwed you by throwing you into the public eye before you were properly trained or had the requisite knowledge for the job.  

Since you are "new to Metro," Metro has also ordered you to be "on stage" when you had limited or no knowledge of the company, organizational structure, or policies.  Again, that shows us how little regard the Great and Powerful Metro has for you.  

Imagine riding with a driver who never drove a bus before, or a mechanic who never touched a wrench yet is supposed to make sure the bolts are on correctly...

Now, let me make my previous question a little easier (from 1/8), in which I wanted to know how the eight directors utilized Metro (which involves parking in a Pk&Ride lot, hence involved with the posted subject).  

===

"Let's start off by you telling us how each one of the eight persons named in the Director section of the Metro main page CURRENTLY uses the bus or Death Train EVERY DAY.  "

===

ROLL CALL:

1.  Mr. David S. Wolff, Chairman

2.  Mr. Gerald B. Smith, Vice Chairman

3.  Mr. Jackie Freeman, Secretary

4.  Mr. George A. DeMontrond, III

5.  Bishop James Dixon, II

6.  Ms. Carmen Orta

7.  Mr. Rafael Ortega

8.  Mr. C. Jim Stewart, III

I expect them (or you) to provide an answer  by Tuesday.  Since they probably make more  salary than you, they should be competent enough to answer this simple question.  This would be a GREAT opportunity for them to introduce themselves individually on the blog.  

Step up to the plate, Directors!!

The taxpayers are waiting.  

I am glad that I use the NW Park and ride on 290.  From the replies here it sounds like the rest are like Baghdad.

Seriously - what do Metro cops do? The only times I have ever seen them is at the entrance or exit to the HOV. That's it...

Anonymous9 raises interesting questions about Metro brass and their use (or non-use) of Metro facilities.

Mary and Sandra: Does Metro CEO Frank Wilson ever ride the bus?

30-day Metro passes range in price from $35 to $110. Wouldn't that be a better deal for the taxpayers than the $1,030 car allowance Wilson gets every month?

My mortgage is almost that high. What does the man drive? a flippin Lamorghini?

I've been lurking this site the past few days and I must say that I'm disappointed.  A little about me first:  I am a disabled Army veteran and have worked in and out of government for the past 10 years.  I have served with both liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, people with all sorts of ideas and passions.  One thing that all the officals and staff members that I have worked with would agree on is that this site is worthless!  My employers believed in open government, where the taxpayer had a forum to address their concerns and be answered by the taxspender.  What I had hoped would come of this blog is something akin to that.  However, what I have seen so far does not impress me.  This blog has degenderated (or maybe was always intended to be) nothing more than a fluff-piece media arm of Metro, trying to make us believe that everything is well and good.  But it's not!

I live near and go to graduate school nearby the peasants (poor folks, you know the ones that need bus service the most---wait, I'm poor!!!  OH NO!!!!) and have noticed that, instead of increasing services to those who need them the most, Metro cuts their services to pour more money into things like the Danger Train and "security" cameras in the Park and Pillages.  Why can't my tax money be used for something that actually helps those in my community?  The Danger Train doesn't come near this area.  It will never come near this area.  I thought the idea behind Metro was to move the most people possible, and to deliver services to those that need them most.  To be fair, I know of disabled persons who utilize Metro's vans and are quite happy.  Metro isn't doing everything wrong.  But as a former public servant myself, I find it unconscionable that Metro spends so much of its resources on efforts that benefit so few (Danger Train) or efforts that are less effective and more costly than the alternative (spending untold millions on cameras when security guards would be cheaper, more responsive, and actually have been shown to reduce crime.)

I applaud those who take Metro to task by posting their comments, and though I may not be able to comment on a regular basis, if at all, I would hope that Ms. Sit and the Metro employees that respond would actually ANSWER the questions raised in this forum instead of trying to win arguments.

acc's finest, what should we expect from an appointed Quasi-Governmental Entity that thought so much of the lying and corrupt Brown administration that they named their headquarters after the bum? At least it is truth in advertising of a sort.

Mary, beware. Boots can walk away. The eye in the sky never sleeps, never eats, never wanders away, always finds its target.

Appreciate the feedback that we have been receiving concerning the use of technology to support our officers in responding to incidents that have and will occur on our park & ride lots. The use of cameras will be part of a system that also will include our capability to remotely open and close gates, and the continued use of police officers to patrol our lots.

We believe that technology can be effective in supporting officers in our efforts to ensure the safety and security of our system, but we do not believe that it alone will stop crime. Clearly, as has been noted in these discussions, police officers on the ground must be part of our efforts. We agree and have increased our police staff by 20 officers.

Look forward to learning more from the differing views that are being communicated. We agree that perception is reality and we look forward to participating in this form of discussion to allow us to gain insight into what we may be able to do to continue to improve on how we meet our committment to public safety.

Sorry for going off topic, but I wish people would stop calling the Metro Rail the "danger train" or other derogatory names. I ride it regularly to downtown and the medical center. I have found it to be safe and efficient. The train moves me as well as my friends and coworkers. Certainly, there were some poor design decisions made, but they have not significantly hindered the system's usefulness. I hope it is extended to reach other populous regions within central Houston (I'd love to go to the Galleria area, in particular) and eventually connected to a commuter rail network. But none of that will happen as long as people keep derogating it. We should be celebrating the fact that a complete mass transit system is at long last being developed.

I feel more secure parking at a P&R lot than in the Galleria, Reliant Park, or at a COH Airport Lot!

I do have a problem with the auto gate systems of the lots.  One day I was going to the 214 "B" lot.  I was exiting US 290 NB, and was going to enter the lot from the NB Service/Feeder Road.  I was about to turn into the lot, and saw the gate was closed.  I don't mind locked gates during off peak times, but some signage would help!  Ditto for the North Sheperd lot!

"Clearly, as has been noted in these discussions, police officers on the ground must be part of our efforts. We agree and have increased our police staff by 20 officers."

Are all 20 on patrol, or are a portion of them in supervisory, camera-monitor, or maintenance roles?

If those additional officers are out on patrol, do they patrol individually to increase the frequency of human presence at the lots, or do they double-up in the vehicles so you there is no additional coverage benefit timewise?

Laurence, Point of information: The US Army has done a lot of studies of small unit tactics and they have found conclusively that two people are more than twice as effective as one as they can support each other and watch each other's back. HPD's decision to go to one man patrols endangers the lives of officers.

Metrorider, the reason it is called the Dangertrain is because of it's poor design. It has the rail not only at grade but sharing the traffic lanes of vehicles. METROrail has ONE OF THE WORST accident rates of any tram system in the nation. METRO likes to blame "red light runners" and people making illegal left turns, and while there may be a very small nugget of truth in that, the signal design for intersections can and HAS trapped vehicles in the intersection with nowhere to go. The presence of the train preempts the normal signal timing and a vehicle with a green light when it leaves the stop line can find itself with a red light by the time it makes it to the middle of the intersection. Now, under state traffic law, a vehicle in the intersection when the light turns red has the right of way and is considered not to have not run the light, so in fact the train, by entering the intersection when that occurs, is actually failing to yield the right of way itself, even though it technically has a vertical bar.

Additionally, current leaking from it's return current path (the rails themselves) is seriously undermining important subsurface infrastructure including bridge abutments, building foundations, gas mains, etc. METRO contends that the burst water main that occurred some months back was not due to stray current corrosion, but they really have no evidentiary basis for that statement. Stray current CAN and WILL corrode the steel reinforcement embedded in concrete and this main was steel reinforced concrete from the reports I have read.

>>Certainly, there were some poor design decisions made, but they have not significantly hindered the system's usefulness.<<

Of course they have hindered the system's utility!

Making the political decision to lay at-grade rail to the football stadium down an already busy traffic corridor as quickly as possible to impress Super Bowl attendees that Houston is world-class resulted in:

1) A transit backbone that shuts down during heavy rains

2) A transit backbone involved in a ridiculous number of collisions with traffic (auto, foot, and wheelchair!)

3) A transit backbone that effectively must shut down during special events (like downtown sports parties or the marathon).

And, of course, there's the unsolved stray-current problem that may have resulted from the political pressures to rush the job.

Chicago's world-class transit system doesn't have to shut down during heavy rains. Its trains don't ever get hit by cars. And it doesn't have to shut down during special events.

But I don't know if the CTA has a map of a single 7 mile line that people can download to their iPods, so our transit organization may have them beaten in that "world class" category. :)

Chief Lambert. I am going to conduct an experiment and I invite everyone here to participate. I am going to conduct spot checks at the park and ride lots in my area for the next two months. I won't say when, nor will I say where. My goal is to determine how often METRO PD is on site. My working hypothesis is "hardly ever" but I would be overjoyed if that were found not to be the case, but I'm really not holding my breath. When at the end of my experiment I find that METRO PD is nowhere to be found, I expect you to announce the cancellation of your camera boondoggle and you to promptly spend the money on boots on the ground.

 Meanwhile I have a homework assignment for you. You obviously had to go before the METRO Board and make your case for both the cancellation of the security contract as well as letting the camera contract. You mission is to present the documentation you took to the board to justify both. If you can satisfy US the TAXPAYER that this is the taxpayers best interest, we'll leave you alone. I don't expect you'll be successful, but it would at least show you care about doing what is in the taxpayer's best interest.

A few years ago I can remember scores of people showing up at METRO board meetings and pleading with METRO to not cancel the downtown trolleys as well as other bus routes in their area.  METRO ignored the pleas, cancelled the routes and sold the trolleys to Austin METRO for $.15 on the dollar.  Here we are a few years latter and METRO is blowing $16MM on camera’s that look like glorified pigeon roosts for the 261 P&R lot as well as spending untold $$$'s on an annual basis to maintain these cameras.  Two questions.  

1.  How many more riders will this add to METRO and how did this work into the cost justification since METRO is supposed to be driven by what everything costs?

2.  How much extra will this cost on an annual basis to operate these cameras including repair and upkeep?

I'm still amazed out how this public transportation agency thought it was worth while to get rid of basic service while they spend METRO dollars on I-Pod gizmos, cameras and build a transit building nicer than any facility than I've seen at our nation’s capital.

What I can't figure out is that all the METRO P&R lots are free except for Fannin South.  We don't demand police support at free lots, so why should METRO be different.

Free Lots = Those not owned by METRO.

Mary, if cameras were intended to replace security guards, why did Metro pull the guards before the cameras were operational?

It seems that a responsible way of switching over would be to keep the guards around, put up the cameras, test them, work out the kinks, then pull the guards.

Instead, it looks like Metro pulled the guards, was shocked by the crime surge (er, "creep") and then tried to throw together a camera system.

Please address my concerns and questions.

"What I can't figure out is that all the METRO P&R lots are free except for Fannin South.  We don't demand police support at free lots, so why should METRO be different."

You have legal recourse if a private lot operator is negligent and allows criminal activity to happen on his property. You can sue the guy. The concept of "sovereign immunity" means that you won't get too far if you try suing Metro. The possibility of civil litigation is there to encourage diligence and safety among property owners, and it thereby protects all of us. That protection doesn't apply at Metro facilities.

Instead, we rely on Metro's existing police department, and that department is tasked with protecting Metro facilities, presumably including Park & Ride locations.

Folks are entitled to a reasonable level of police protection, particularly at public facilities. Cops are a conspicuous deterrent at other public facilities -- City Hall, courthouses, Astros games, even the Metro administration building.

Go downtown and head in to Metro headquarters, and you'll notice that Metro executives protect themselves, their cars and their employees with officers, not just cameras.

I have been riding a particular P&R bus for about 8 years now. In that time, I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen a Metro PD officer present, either in the morning or afternoon, and still have fingers left over.

When the little huts were "manned," I rarely saw anyone in them. Frankly, having cameras that are monitored 24/7 (or at the very least, when riders are present) is a vast improvement in their security.

I used to work in a building surrounded by our own parking lot, and we could watch our cars. At least once per year, some yahoo would try and break into a car. No one could ever get out of the building fast enough to catch the punk. AND WE WERE RIGHT THERE.

Our P&R lot is large and spread out, and there is no way that 1 or 2 people could concievably watch every corner. I do not think the cameras are perfect, but they ARE an improvement.

Listen, people, the Metro PD have as great a responsibility as keeping you and your property safe as the Houston PD does. You don't expect the HPD to follow you around night and day, do you? Well, maybe some of you do from your postings!

At this parking lot, as in ANY parking lot, you must use common sense. Don't leave valuables in plain view. Don't leave them in your car at all. Lock your car. Even if you drive your car to work and leave it in their lot all day, you are still at risk. What makes you think the Metro P&R lots are any different than the mall? Or the Rice Village? Or the U of H? or at Reliant Center?

I have yet to hear of an incident, at least at my own P&R, of anyone being abducted, mugged at knifepoint, shot, or raped. Smash & grab, yes. Anything more serious? No. Why is that?

Because I have NEVER been alone at a P&R. If I get off a bus, there are people around. If I'm getting dropped off or picked up, there's at least one other person there.

So let's make a deal. I'll look out for you, if you look out for me. If I see someone lurking about without purpose, I'll call police on my cellphone. You do the same.

The one thing that we all MUST DO - whether riding Metro or not - is taking responsibility for ourselves. Metro is doing what it reasonably can - but this is a PUBLIC transportation system. And unfortunately, thieves, hooligans and rapists are part of the public. The alternative? Bear traffic and park in an unsecured lot somewhere where you just MIGHT find yourself alone at night in the dark, where no cameras are watching.

It is YOUR CHOICE to ride Metro. Don't like it? Don't ride.

LongTime the problem is that if we don't like it, we still have to pay for it since METRO uses tax dollars.  You are incorrect on your comparison between HPD and METROPD.  They do not have the same patrol areas and reponsibilities.

Confusion abounds...

What are MPDs patrol areas?

Are they limited as to where they can go in the county?

As I am obviously in the dark here ,how about some illumination?

wi11ie

Which brings us back to the purpose for which METRO PD was formed. If the purpose is park and ride security, they are failing in their purpose. They either need to be reorganized or shut down.

LongTimeRider, I'd like to address your points one at a time.

"Listen, people, the Metro PD have as great a responsibility as keeping you and your property safe as the Houston PD does."

Not really. Metro PD's primary duty is to secure transit routes and facilities. The department doesn't pursue serial killers, solve bank robberies, do DNA testing, serve drug warrants or take on many other responsibilities of HPD. It has a narrow focus, and it still can't manage to get the job done.

"At this parking lot, as in ANY parking lot, you must use common sense. Don't leave valuables in plain view. Don't leave them in your car at all. Lock your car."

What would you tell the owners of the scores of pickups that have had their tailgates stolen? Remove the tailgate, put it on the seat and lock up?

"I have yet to hear of an incident, at least at my own P&R, of anyone being abducted, mugged at knifepoint, shot, or raped. Smash & grab, yes. Anything more serious? No. Why is that?"

Why haven't you heard of anything? I dunno how to account for that. But KHOU reported that robberies are up 400 percent.

"It is YOUR CHOICE to ride Metro. Don't like it? Don't ride."

You seem to suggest that only Metro riders have a stake in Metro. That's nonsense. Metro is a public agency, funded by federal and local tax dollars. It has a mandate to serve the public, and it's failing in that regard.

Summing up: One minimum wage flashlight toting security guard in a booth elevated five feet off the ground watching a ten acre P&R lot, versus multiple cameras mounted high on poles monitored from a central location.

Quality of observation: Edge to the camera system assuming high resolution cameras and a minimally competent observation staff. Also record for evidentiary use.

Response time: Edge to the security guard, with assumed equivalence in backup Metro PD patrol response.

Cost: After the initial capital outlay for the camera system one observer can monitor multiple P&R locations and bus stops. Edge to the camera system.

So, IMHO, on the assumption (big if) that Metro PD is only a few minutes away after being notified of an observed incident by the observation team, the camera system in an improvement.

I would like to introduce all of you to a concept attempted during the Vietnam War by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara over the objections of the JCS. Different facets of the project had different code names, but it is best known as Project Igloo White which was the code name for the sensors themselves. The project was run by an Army Lt. Gen. by the name of Alfred D. Starbird. McNamara tried to build a "Virtual Fence" across the Ho Chi Mihn trail in Laos. It was an abject failure. To quote General Westmoreland:

MACV commander Westmoreland met with Starbird and concluded that the plan was “a noble idea” but “also highly theoretical.” In his memoir, A Soldier Reports, Westmoreland said, “As any experienced military man would know, the concept had a basic flaw in that no fence—electronic or otherwise—would be foolproof without men to cover it by fire, which raised the specter of tying down a battalion every mile or so in conventional defense.”

You can read more here:

http://redinktexas.blogspot.com/2007/01/lessons-not-learned.html

I saw a camera on TV this morning from Transtar. It was partially covered with ice. Will this happen with these cameras?

I have noticed since the cameras have been installed on my P&R Lot which has 4 entrances or exits. Two of the entrances have cameras. One where the busses usually enter and the other was the main entrance that the citizens enterd in. The other two gates are not controlled by cameras but one is usually for busses and the other for cars. the gate where the cars use to enter seems to be locked 24 hours aday. It does not matter what time I ride early morning,middayor late evening the gate is always locked. How is this a detereent to crime when the crooks enter the lots through the gates without cameras? thge cameras on the poles appear to be to high to get a good shot of a liscense plate or a good shot of someoneones face. I may be wrong but I do believe the locked gate with camera is a delibarate waste of our money. whovere is suppose to have control of the gates must be a sleep at the control panel. But why should that surprise me when yu use to be able to catch the security guards sleeping in the booths.

Not to quote anyone.  

But does everyone expect metro to be perfect.  I know I don't and I know I am not perfect myself.  But I sit here and read about everyones gripes and you all say the cameras are a waste.  So fine get rid of the camera and put out lets say 5 security guards at each P&R and people still complain about them that they cannot protect you. So take them out and put in 5 Metro police and still people would not be happy.  For the people on the HOV would complain that there are no officers out there watching for viloators.  

So not everyone will be happy.  Yes it is shame that people cars get broken into but no reasonable person can expect metro to stop it all.

Now me I would like to have camera there more then the one beat come or the security guard in the shack sitting there.  Those camera can cover a lot more ground then the one cop walking around.  Have you all walk around a lot lately they are huge.  I have.   It can take me 15 min to walk around the 290 lot and that is only walking about one of them they have two seperate lots.   Now sure I could run and cover more ground but would you expect a cop to run to cover all that area.  Now take the eye in the sky it can cover it all and it does it in the rain, on the weekend, even on holidays and it does not complain and does not sleep and it is there for you 24 hours a day.  Does it cover every square inch no but either does the cop.  You say a person is nice and I agree I think we should have cops and cameras there but when the cop is not there the camera is still there.  Now take the 290 lot you could get mugged and robbed and lets say that it takes 2 min for that to happen and if you are on the oppiste side of the lot from the cop there is nothing he could have done for he would not even know it is happening.  Sure you could scream but he may not even hear that.  Me and my friend have ran test.   Out there.  Yelling at each other from one side to the other.  NOTHING..  I heard nothing of him and I was listeing for his voice.  Now granted camera are more expensive then two cops out there but put say 6 cops out there.  Yeah that would do about the same job as the 20 camera and you number crunching people do the math and tell me how much that would cost to have 6 cops out there 24/7.  

Will camera stop crime no but it will make someone think twice about a crime.  It is hard to fight and say that is not me when the judge has a picture of someone with their hand reaching into your car.  Sure not all the pictures are good and maybe you cannot read all of the # on a license plate but that is not a chance the average criminal is worth takeing.  

I know I rather have a camera then nothing at all.  I got camera at my house and a house alarm.  Is my house safe somewhat but you can still break in to my house.  I guess if I wanted to be really safe I could hire a guard to protect the house but who has that kind of money.  Not me and Metro does not have that kind of money to put 5+ police officers at each P&R.  

I can say I like have the camera at my house.  If something goes off I can login and in mins know what is going on at my house.  Call the neighbors call the cops tell them who or what to look for when they get there.   Same thing as metro can do. Sure they may not have a unit statinoned there at the P&R but if you know that the people that just stold the tailgate were driveing a red ford truck you can tell any units in the area to keep a eye open for a red ford truck in the area.

I say to you that If you don't like metro or trust them with your money them don't ride the bus.  And yes some of your tax money goes to them but then so does some of your tax goes to welfare and free medical clincs and all of the other public services that most of us do not use but we still pay for either.

PS I say there is no real format for Blog.   It can be a story, a insight into something that happen source of questions or statments.   I think it is nice that Metro has put this out here for us to listen to what other have to say and to voice what we have to say.  So Mary welcome aboard I rather have some info then no info.

Matro Police keep up the good work and keep those cheaters off the HOV lanes.

And for the train haters.  Don't run the red lights and park on the tracks and we would have a lot less thing to complain about.  

And remember Camera at red lights don't make you run the red lights you run the red lights they just tell the police that you did it.  :)