The Next Stop: METRO's Podcast Episode 55: Challenges and Opportunities of Policing a Transit System Dennis Ribeiro: Our officers are focused on the security and safety of the transit system and everything that goes along with the transit system—the employees, the patrons who use our system, you know, the customers who use our system, and our property and rolling stock, meaning buses, LRVs, you know, everything that the system uses. Doug Delony: I’m Doug Delony. On this edition of the Next Stop: The unique challenges and opportunities of policing a transit system like Houston METRO. [Introduction music plays] Doug Delony: Today, on the Next Stop, we welcome METRO’s Assistant Chief of Police, Dennis Riberio. Welcome to the podcast! Dennis Ribeiro: Oh, it’s great to be here. Thank you for having me! Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: I’m actually honored. Doug Delony: Thank you for taking the time. I know you guys stay busy in the METRO Police Department. I mean, it goes without saying for people who are familiar with it. You know, if you work at METRO, if you’re a regular rider, you know this, but I think sometimes there is a perception of people driving around town. They might see the METRO Police car. Some people probably oversimplify what you guys do. “That’s a security officer… Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: “…for a bus.” That…. Dennis Ribeiro: No. Doug Delony: There’s so much more, right? Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah, we get that a lot. So, we have what’s called the METRO Police Department and the officers of the MPD—when I say MPD, I mean METRO Police Department, just to be clear. The officers of MPD have full police powers that the State gives any municipal, county, state police officer. So, we have the full power to write citations, make arrests, respond to calls for service, help citizens in whatever way we can anywhere in the State, but really, when we think of jurisdiction, what people normally think of jurisdiction, MPD has by statute, by law, MPD has “jurisdiction” anywhere where METRO the Transit Authority collects the sales tax or has property or offers services. Doug Delony: 1,300 square miles. That’s a big area. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. We have jurisdiction in anywhere where the Transit Authority collects taxes or has property or services. Doug Delony: And you guys here to serve, you know, METRO customers but also METRO employees… Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. Doug Delony: And to protect the transit system and equipment and property overall. So, you’re 24/7. Dennis Ribeiro: Yes, yes. We’re a 24/7, full-service police department. We have what’s called “concurrent jurisdiction” with all the agencies that we have jurisdiction in. And what that means is, for example, in the City of Houston, we have just as much authority as a Houston Police Officer does. Doug Delony: But that’s not to say, though, that you are any kind of replacement for HPD. Dennis Ribeiro: No. Doug Delony: HPD is not a replacement for METRO PD. Dennis Ribeiro: No. No. Doug Delony: And you collaborate with law enforcement agencies, including them, I’m sure, Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Can you talk a little bit about that? Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. Every day. We collaborate with our partners every day. It’s like you said, the two main ones being Houston and Harris County. We also work with other agencies like some of the Constables, some of the smaller cities, Bellaire comes to mind. West U comes to mind. And we work with those agencies. Primarily where you see us working with them is, for instance, you know, like one of our Park and Ride, Cypress Park and Ride, way out there on 290. Sometimes when we get a call out there, and our unit is not close, we will reach out to the Sheriff’s Department or the Constables in the area and say, “Hey, can you respond to this and hold the scene for us? We’ve got somebody en route.” And then when our officers get there, they’ll turn it over to them. So, sometimes those agencies will actually patrol through there… Doug Delony: Hm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: …on their own and see something, and they’ll reach out to us. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: And we’ll kind of work with them. On some things, like let’s say recently, you know, we had the, you know, one of the shootings. Because it happens in the City of Houston, we do, by agreement, look to our partners at HPD for them to, if they’re going to take over because they do have a little bit more resources than we do in the fact that they have, you know, a criminal lab and forensic lab. Doug Delony: Hm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: You know, a dedicated Homicide Unit. So, the City, by our agreement, they do get the first look or the first pick, if you will… Doug Delony: Hm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: At crimes that happen. But very rarely do they take over. Usually, you’ll take, you’ll see them take the lead. Actually, they don’t take over. They take the lead, like on a homicide, a shooting, something like that, based on our agreement, and then our investigators will work concurrently, jointly with them, side-by-side to work that case, so. Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: That’s normally where you see our interaction with them. Sometimes, because the City or the County patrols in the same areas that we do, they will come across something at a bus stop or get flagged down on a bus or anything like that on our property, on our lines. And they normally will call us when that happens. They’ll secure the scene, and then we’ll have one of our officers go out there and handle whatever issues unless they call back and say, “We’ll just take it.” Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: You know, for whatever reason. Another big area where you see collaboration with us and the City and the County, specifically, are on special events. Things like rodeo, Final Four, the Superbowl we had here not too long ago. The World Series was another one. Doug Delony: Uh-huh. Dennis Ribeiro: Those are planned events, but we also work together on unplanned events like hurricanes. Sometimes when there’s like a major freeze, you know, and you see a lot of issues come out of the freeze, we’ll work hand in hand with our partners in the City and the County to kind of respond to the region as a whole. Doug Delony: I think a lot of people, they might see METRO Police, and they wonder, “Why does METRO Police exist? We already have the Constables, the Deputies, and the…?” I mean, this all goes back, though, to the unique challenges of policing a transit agency… Dennis Ribeiro: Correct. Doug Delony: …or policing a transit authority or a transportation service. What are some of those challenges? Dennis Ribeiro: Well, the reason you have the different agencies—just within Harris County alone, you have somewhere upwards of like 70 police agencies. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: And a lot of those are, there’s so many because outside of the main jurisdictions, meaning the primary jurisdictions, meaning the County and City, you have a lot of agencies that are focused on specific things. METRO is one of those agencies. Our officers are focused on the security and safety of the transit system and everything that goes along with the transit system—the employees, the patrons who use our system, you know, the customers who use our system, and our property and rolling stock, meaning buses, LRVs, you know, everything that the system uses. And we have that because we can focus more on that. Some of the challenges that we face that other agencies don’t is we tend to see a lot more people per officer on a daily basis because of the nature of transit. You know, a lot of people going to and from work, to and from, you know, entertainment places, to and from home a lot of times. You know, our uniqueness is our community of transit-dependent folks as well. People that depend on METRO to get to where they need to get to—work, home, doctor’s office, church, grocery store, you name it, you know? And so, one of the things that I challenge, or you know, the command staff challenges the officers is, you know, we focus on the quality of life of everybody. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: Specifically, our transit-dependent riders. There are citizens that have, you know, no use but to use—I mean, no choice but to use transit, you know? Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: So, we really concentrate on that. But another thing is they’re focused specifically on, you know, like our rail officers will ride the rail. They understand the rail line, how it works, the different emergencies that can happen, the different unique challenges to the rail line, and the troubled area and the hotspots. Whereas the City deals with, you know, primarily, you know, residential or commercial issues. Our Force is focused on the transit… Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: …issues. So, just transit-focused. Doug Delony: I’m sure some of that comes back to help when an officer is approached and asked, “Hey, how do I… Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. Doug Delony: “…ride the rail? Is this gonna take me to the Med Center? Is this gonna take…?” You know? I can’t imagine, you know, there’s a chance a Houston Police Officer might know the answer. Dennis Ribeiro: Sure. Doug Delony: There’s a chance. Dennis Ribeiro: Sure. Doug Delony: But there’s a much better chance… Dennis Ribeiro: That the…. Doug Delony: …that someone who’s, you know, assigned directly to work with the transit system, they’re going to know. And that’s part of what you guys do as well. You’re there to… Dennis Ribeiro: Correct. Doug Delony: …also help people. Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. There is an ambassador side of what MPD does, and you’re absolutely correct. You know, you may get a City police officer or a County police officer that doesn’t understand, you know, something like, for instance, the headways of the rail or the LRVs, you know, the different headways and how long it takes. Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: You know, where this particular LRV stops, and you know, how you can go from this LRV to a bus to get to where you need to get to, what apps to use, what, you know, the routes. All that. The fare media, how to pay for fare. Those are things that are that most officers outside of our department don’t really know or understand. Very few. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: And it’s not their job, you know, to know that. So, it’s our job to know that. Doug Delony: Hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: To know those things. Or at least know where you can go to look for, “Hey, I need to get from point A to point B. What are the different stops I need to make and transfers I need to make?” Our officers can, if they don’t know it already, which most of them do, you know, we have resources to look that up rather quickly and be able to tell somebody who’s visiting or somebody that’s depending on transit has to go someplace new, they can give them that information. You’re absolutely correct. Doug Delony: And it goes even beyond that as far as, I mean, you have police officers, you have lieutenants, you have transit marshals. Dennis Ribeiro: [laughs] Doug Delony: What’s a transit marshal? Dennis Ribeiro: So, the way our rank structure work is you obviously have the Chief. Doug Delony: Uh-huh. Dennis Ribeiro: You know, Chief Vera Bumpers. Doug Delony: Okay. Dennis Ribeiro: She is our main person, you know? Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: She’s the one that makes the magic happen. Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: But she is the Chief. She is our Chief. And then we have two Assistant Chiefs. We have one Assistant Chief who is over our Support Operations, which is things like our criminal investigators, our Recruiting Unit, our Background Investigations Unit, our Training Unit, our uniforms, Transit Marshals, our C.A.R.E. Unit. And then you have an Assistant Chief over Field Operations, which is my position, and I already explained earlier, you know, my Division deals primarily with rail patrol, the bus lines patrol, Transit Centers, Park and Rides, HOV. Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: So, that’s how the Department is broken down organizationally. Rank structure, you know, we have the Chief, Assistant Chiefs, and each section has a Lieutenant. And then each Lieutenant has Sergeants that work underneath them, and then Sergeants then have the Officers. We do have specialized units. One of them is, just as you said, a Transit Marshal Unit. So, the Transit Marshal Unit is what we call a Discretionary Unit. The reason we call it a Discretionary Unit is because they don’t have a set focus, you know, like, for instance, in Field Operations, our Rail Section is the officers directly responsible for controlling the rail and responding to calls on rail. The Transit Marshals don’t have a set assignment, set focus. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: They are used as the description, as I described them, as a Discretionary Unit. When we see certain issues that need a particular focus, you know, a more focused approach and that Unit is capable of working both in uniform and in plain clothes. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: To, you know, do whatever they need to do to get something. So, for instance, if we have a bus line where we are getting constant feedback from the customers and the bus operators that there is a group boarding at a certain place, causing problems every day. We’ll use a combination of uniform and, you know, plainclothes officer to ride that bus and see that going on, and then the uniform officers can come in and deal with those individuals directly. It’s the same thing when we see, you know, we get complaints of, like, you know, prostitution, loitering, or drugs at a very specific location. You know, we’ll use the same kind of deployment. I don’t want to get too far into the specifics. Doug Delony: Sure, sure. Dennis Ribeiro: But we’ll use that kind of blended deployment, you know, to address those issues. And sometimes, we lean on those officers to kind of fill in the gaps when it comes to special events as well. They do their job specific to a special event, so…. Doug Delony: So, for the METRO customers out there listening to this, and even maybe the employees who don’t realize it, and maybe even the bad guys… Dennis Ribeiro: [laughs] Yeah. Doug Delony: …the person that they’re next to on the bus, on the train, they may not look like a police officer, they could be a plain-clothed transit marshal. Dennis Ribeiro: Right. Doug Delony: Keeping an eye on things. Dennis Ribeiro: Very much so. You could also be the person that you think is working on something over here at a Park and Ride is actually a plainclothes officer. Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: We like to keep them guessing. Doug Delony: Right, right. Dennis Ribeiro: And it kind of, it works out in our favor. And this isn’t unique to us. There’s, you know, many other agencies use the same similar-type of a blended approach of a unit such as this that can do both uniform and plain clothes. Doug Delony: Right. I’ve seen some of the notes come in, you know, when an arrest is made or when there’s an incident or whatever. And we’ll see, you know, and sometimes a transit marshal is involved in helping make the arrest. Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. Doug Delony: Recently, there was one where he was in an entirely different town, had a bulletin out, and they were looking for a couple of murder suspects… Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: …or something. And it was a METRO—they saw a car with stolen plates or something. You guys pulled them over and made an arrest. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: And it’s like, “Man, I didn’t even know we had transit marshals!” Dennis Ribeiro: [laughs] Doug Delony: It’s pretty cool. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah, it is, and they’re a very, very, very good group. A good group of officers that are dedicated to their specific job, and they do it very well. They have a very good leadership, you know? Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: In that unit. And they know how to focus. They know how to turn on a dime to anything that the Department needs them to do, and their credit, and to their credit, they do get their focus changed a lot, you know? But that’s what we want from them, and they do it very well. They do it gladly, you know? And they take it on, and they do it right. They look at the big picture, and it’s really good to have a tool that is that flexible and that applicable to some of the things that we see going on. Sometimes, you know, sometimes we’ll see an uptick for whatever reason in a certain segment of the rail line, and the transit marshals will actually go out there and deal with that specific issue, you know? It may just be for that day or that week riding trains, you know, because we’re having or we’re seeing an issue here. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: Or we’ve got feedback from somebody in the community or, you know, somebody in leadership somewhere that says, you know, “We’ve seen this,” you know, “We see this going on.” Or could be the rail operators that see it going on, and so we’ll ask the transit marshals. We call them TMU, which is an acronym. That they’ll go get focused on that, and kind of solve that problem… Doug Delony: Wow. Dennis Ribeiro: …and then kind of move on to the next. Doug Delony: And METRO also has, I mean, obviously, I’ve seen METRO Police in SUVs, the police cars, on motorcycles. I’ve seen them in golf carts. Dennis Ribeiro: [laughs] Doug Delony: I’ve seen them on the Segways, I guess… Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: …Do we still have the Segways or…? Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. All modes of transportation. Doug Delony: Okay. And then on foot. You guys are on the bus sometimes and on the rail a lot, on the rail line actively patrolling. Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. Doug Delony: But also, in addition, I would say one of your greatest assets is probably the number of cameras we have… Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. Doug Delony: …along our system. And not just on the vehicles but also on the platforms. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: Some of the crimes that we’ve heard about since October… Dennis Ribeiro: Right. Doug Delony: …that made the headlines. Dennis Ribeiro: Yep, yep. Doug Delony: Cameras were a huge help in those incidents, right? Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. They were pivotal. Pivotal. You know, they were key in making some of those arrests. We use them primarily forensically, which means after the fact of the crime. And what I was going to say is coming back to the active monitoring cameras, the cameras do come back to our dispatch center, so… Doug Delony: Okay. Dennis Ribeiro: …and in our dispatch center, we have dispatchers, and then we also have officers that are assigned to our dispatch, and then we have a supervisor structure there as well, you know, sergeant, lieutenant, and they will also look at the cameras and look, especially when they get a report of something happening. So, if we get a report of, you know, somebody fighting on a platform… Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: …you know, the dispatchers and those officers will automatically switch over those cameras and be able to tell the responding officers in real time what’s going on with the descriptions of the people or where they’re, you know, where they’re going or what they’re doing. So, it not only, it serves forensically to go back after the fact and get pictures of people that have committed crimes and be able to go back and find them afterwards, but it also works as a tool for officer safety and to maximize our response while they’re responding, and those cameras can be brought up and seeing a live picture. Doug Delony: Let’s talk about those people or how you find out something is happening a little bit. We talked about how, you know, Houston Police might route something to you guys, someone might call 9-1-1 as they’re passing by. But as a customer on a platform, I guess we also have call boxes? Dennis Ribeiro: Yes, we do. We have—platforms and our Park and Rides and Transit Centers have call boxes. Doug Delony: Okay. Dennis Ribeiro: So, it’s, they’re, you can tell where they are because they’ll have like a blue light at the top. Doug Delony: Okay. Dennis Ribeiro: And it’s a button. When you push that button, it rings directly to our dispatch center, and you speak directly to a dispatcher. Doug Delony: Okay. Dennis Ribeiro: Or one of the officers there at dispatch. Doug Delony: And then, if you have a smartphone or a cell phone, you can dial #MPD. Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. #MPD. Or you can, you know, one of the best tools that I’ve seen work is the MPD Connect app. Doug Delony: Okay. Dennis Ribeiro: You know, the app is really, really valuable, and I think a lot of people underestimate how valuable that application, that app is. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: Because with the app, you can, like, record, take pictures. You can, you know, put a paragraph in there… Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: …of what’s going on, and nobody knows you’re doing it. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: It looks like you’re just, it just looks like you’re surfing on your phone. You know, it has a mode to where, I believe, it doesn’t flash… Doug Delony: Yeah. Dennis Ribeiro: …when you take a picture. It doesn’t show the recording. Doug Delony: That’s a good point because some people feel intimidated. Dennis Ribeiro: Exactly. Doug Delony: If they’re on the bus, especially right next to something that’s happening… Dennis Ribeiro: Right, exactly. Doug Delony: …they’re not going to want to hold their phone up and say, “Hey, there’s a guy next to me doing something….” You know? Dennis Ribeiro: Exactly. Doug Delony: Yeah. Dennis Ribeiro: And that’s one of the reasons that app was developed was for that particular reason because, you know, before we had the app, you know, some people would say, “Well, I saw that, but I didn’t want to say anything. I didn’t want to call because I didn’t want, you know, them to see that I was on the phone.” So, the pictures, the videos, all of that goes straight to our dispatchers. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: Our dispatchers have that up on one of their consoles, and they can get those pictures to the responding officers or the investigators or whatever it has, but that app is a live-time chat, live real-time chat, excuse me… Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: …so, you’re chatting, if you will… Doug Delony: Yeah. Dennis Ribeiro: …with a dispatcher or an officer just the same as if you would call them. Doug Delony: That’s awesome. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah, and they dispatch right from the app, so. Doug Delony: And it all goes back to what we tell people, “If you see something, say something.” Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. That’s the only way we know. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: That’s the only way we know. You know, when we go to, you know, we regularly attend meetings with bus and rail operators, and that’s the first thing that we tell them, “You know, MPD can’t be everywhere.” You know? I wish, you know, that we had enough officers to put one on every train, every bus, every transit center, every platform, but unfortunately, we just don’t. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: So, we rely on the public, and we rely on our bus and rail operators to kind of be our eyes and ears a lot of times to tell us, you know, “Hey, this is going on here. This is going on there.” And, you know, kind of point us—I mean, we do our own active patrolling. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: But, again, you know, we can’t be everywhere at once. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: We’re, you know, a medium-sized police agency trying to cover, as you said earlier, 1,300 square feet, you know, 1,200 plus buses, you know, thousands and thousands of bus stops. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: And you know, however many rail cars we have. I think we’re in the 70s now. And then platforms. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: 28-something platforms. All these rail lines. It becomes very difficult to have, you know, presence everywhere at the same time. So, we kind of, we use, you know, data. Look close at our internal data. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: That kind of points us in the—what we’re seeing coming in, you know, what crimes have been reported where, what times, and we kind of go through all that data and kind of look at, you know, maximizing our deployment around that data that we’re seeing. We also use, you know, things that we get like from MPD Connect, you know… Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: …if we get a lot of hits on that and based what they’re saying—and I forgot one thing about MPD Connect is that you can leave your information if you want to get contacted, you know… Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: …after the fact, so I digress. Doug Delony: Sometimes people write us, you know, because I kind of help monitor our social media channels as well. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: And they’ll say, you know, “Hey, two weeks ago I saw a guy, you know, blah-blah-blah, or I saw a woman blah-blah-blah on this route.” And I can’t believe how often the response is, “Well, did you tell anybody besides now, or did you just tweet about it two weeks later?” Dennis Ribeiro: [laughs] Doug Delony: It’s like, you know, “If you see something, say something.” Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: And I know it’s your occupation as a police officer is to help protect and serve and all that, but I think as a responsible citizen, it’s everybody’s job to keep the community safe. Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. Doug Delony: And whatnot. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: And as a transit community as well, it’s to keep the system safe as well. Dennis Ribeiro: Right. Doug Delony: If anybody is nervous about riding, you know, they’ve heard about the incidents that have happened in just the past couple of months or so, and I know we’ve made a lot of arrests. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: If anybody is nervous, though, what would you tell someone who is nervous about using METRO or even public transportation in general? Dennis Ribeiro: Well, you know, I can go back into the statistics and say, “Statistically, you know, if you look at the statistics, you know, you’re safer on METRO than you are just out and about in the City or the County.” And that may be true, but I still want to speak to people’s sense of security, right? Because they see what they see on TV. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: They hear what they hear from other people. And you’re correct. We have made arrests on almost all of them except maybe two, I believe, of the incidents that occurred. And again, I think in only a couple of those incidents where the perpetrator and the victim known to each other, you know? Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: Most of these incidents are strangers, you know, strangers on strangers. A lot of them are because, you know, some kind of argument happened. Doug Delony: Uh-huh. Dennis Ribeiro: Or some kind of something happens between the two people. So, what I would tell people is you shouldn’t be afraid to ride transit because number 1) You know, hey, again, statistically, you’re safer. But number 2) There are so many tools that you can get in contact with Metro Police, you know? Doug Delony: Uh-huh. Dennis Ribeiro: And we do respond to all of the calls that we get. And number 3) But I would also say just to be aware of your surroundings. I mean, we all know what somebody looks like that has, you know, some type of crisis going on. And so, sometimes, you know, it’s better just to avoid confrontation. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: And just say, “You know what? Yeah, you cussed at me, or you looked at me funny or this and that and the other, but, you know, I’m… Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: “…I’m just trying to get to where I’m just trying to get to.” You know? And it’s easier said than done. I get it, you know? Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: We’re all human. Sometimes, you know, we may be having a bad day, and somebody does something to us, and, you know, we react. But I would say: Be aware of your surroundings first and foremost, you know, and be aware of what’s going on at any given time. And again, you’ve said it a couple of times already is if you see something, say something. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: I mean, if you see something on a bus going on, by all means, report it. Even if the officer comes out and doesn’t find anything, at least, you know, we’ve made that presence. We’ve gone there. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: We’ve looked, and we’ve made sure that everybody’s safe. That nothing’s going on. And a lot of times, even if something happened on the bus, and the perpetrator walks away, gets off the bus, and starts walking down the street, all of times, you know, most of the times, our officers will go and find that person and see what the problem was. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: Or if they did do something, they’ll find that person and then arrest them for whatever crime they did, you know? I don’t want to get too far into the nuisances of, you know, having to have somebody, you know, having a complaint and all that stuff. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: But the main message is again, you know, let us know. We don’t know unless we see it, and if we’re not there to see it, and the person is not there to tell us, excuse me, then there’s no way for us to know, you know? And I take calls for service very seriously, and I push that down to my commanders, my lieutenants, and my sergeants, and therefore, the officers, is to be responsive to the needs of our community, you know? Because, like I said, you know, a lot of the people in our community, in the transit community… Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: …in the METRO transit community, they depend on us, you know? They depend on us to get there. And I can tell you I was a transit user when I was a young child, you know? My mother and I used to ride transit, you know, to get to doctor’s offices and go places. So, I get it. I know what it’s like to, you know, “Oh man, I have no choice but to ride the bus, and there’s this going on or that going on.” Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: It goes back to quality of life. And I take that as having used transit, you know, when I was younger, I take that pretty seriously. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: And I try to push that message and that perspective, so we do focus on—I want to focus on everything, but it’s really, for me, that is a very important part of what we do. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: Is to make that, make the service that METRO offers, you know, as safe as we possibly can with the resources that we have. Doug Delony: Going back to limiting interaction with someone who may be in distress or may, you know, need some mental health care or something. I think a lot of that just goes to everyday life. Even if you’re just walking around Downtown. Or even if you’re in your car, if your driving around in the suburbs, you’re on the freeway, maybe don’t honk, don’t make gestures, don’t interact with people you don’t know. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: And it’s probably a lot safer for both of you that way. Dennis Ribeiro: It is. We’ve seen a rise in those type of crimes all over the nation. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: What we call “Road Rage Crimes” or just crimes…. Doug Delony: You don’t want to blame the victim, but… Dennis Ribeiro: Exactly. Doug Delony: …at a certain point… Dennis Ribeiro: Exactly. But it’s an awareness thing. Doug Delony: Yeah. Dennis Ribeiro: You know, it’s… Doug Delony: Exactly. Dennis Ribeiro: …it’s not a fault of the victim, right? But there are what we call “contributing factors” to… Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: …everything that happens. Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: You know? So, I get it. You know, like I said earlier, we all have bad days. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: But, you know, in this day and age, you know, it behooves us, or it’s better if we kind of take a step back and say, “What are we really doing here?” Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: And you know, “Is this really what needs to happen?” Or just reach out and call the police department. I mean, that’s what the police departments are there for is to handle disturbances, to handle people who may be… Doug Delony: Sure. Dennis Ribeiro: …you know, in crisis. And we see that for those of that work Downtown regularly, you know, it’s no secret that we have… Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: …you know, a fair share of homeless persons around, and most are here, I can tell you from experience the vast majority of homeless persons that I’ve encountered in my years, they’re in some kind of crisis. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: Whether it’s a mental crisis or drug crisis or health crisis, it’s something. And that’s one of the reasons why Chief Bumpers created the C.A.R.E.’s Unit, you know, that we have, you know? Doug Delony: Right. C.A.R.E. Unit. Dennis Ribeiro: The C.A.R.E. Unit, what it is, it’s two teams that we have. Each team is one police officer and a clinician, a professional, that can go out and interact with the homeless population, specifically around transit for us, and offer them services, you know? Try to get them off the street or get them the medical help they need, the psychological help they need. Whatever services that they have available to them that can help those homeless persons get off the street, you know? Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: And, you know, make it better for everybody, including the homeless person. Doug Delony: And the C.A.R.E. Team is less than a year old, and I’ve already heard so many fantastic stories… Dennis Ribeiro: Yes. Doug Delony: …that have come out… Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: …from the staff that help run that. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: It’s just really good, heartwarming stories that we had one episode of the podcast a few episodes ago, so… Dennis Ribeiro: Oh, good. Doug Delony: …if you’re listening to this onto on SoundCloud, scroll down, find the C.A.R.E. Unit episode. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: It’s just really, really… Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah. Doug Delony: …amazing what you guys are doing. Dennis Ribeiro: Great, great team with a great initiative, you know, that Harris County has, the Sheriff’s Department has one, HPD has one. You’re starting to see that more and more… Doug Delony: Uh-huh. Dennis Ribeiro: …locally and nationally. You’re starting to see…. Doug Delony: And they all kind of work together. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah, they all kind of work together, kind of very similar role. Some are a little bit different, you know? There are some little differences between all of them, but it’s all geared towards the same thing. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: And that’s, you know, the interaction between police and our homeless community nationwide. Because, as I said earlier, you know, it’s more than just somebody that’s, you know, walking the streets and wandering the streets. You know, there’s a lot more there that requires a little bit more, a different type of approach, a different understanding, and different resources. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: And the C.A.R.E.’s Unit, I mean, they’ve been hitting it out of the park. I’m very proud of them. And also, I’m very thankful to the Chief for coming forward with that. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: And making that happen. Doug Delony: It’s a great idea. Dennis Ribeiro: Yeah, it was a great idea. Doug Delony: You know, there’s always a need for METRO Police. What would you say to someone who wants to get involved with police work or helping the community? Dennis Ribeiro: We’re always hiring. Doug Delony: Right. Dennis Ribeiro: You know? So, you know, again, if you go to the website, to the METRO website and scroll down and click on “Careers.” Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: You’ll see the openings for police. We have openings for police officers, part-time police officers, dispatchers, and CFIs, which we didn’t talk about, which is our Civilian Fare Inspectors, which is a, it’s a group—it’s actually, it’s growing—of personnel who are not police officers. They’re civilian. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: They’re in uniform, and they’re charged with two things. They have a dual mission, if you will. One is to inspect fares on the rail line and ensure that people riding the rail are paying to ride, and then when they find somebody that’s not, they deal with that. Whether, you know, it’s giving them some kind of warning or some kind of—they are empowered by the State to write citations for fare evasion. Doug Delony: Wow. Dennis Ribeiro: And they also act as ambassadors as well. So, they help a lot of the riding public with getting from point A to point B. They have direct knowledge of that and resources to get them where they need to get them. And they’re valuable as well during special events, especially events, you know, that are like nationwide events or events where we get a lot of people from out of town. That they come in, and they’re new to the City or here for the event, but they don’t really know, so the Fare Inspectors help them get around, and you know, they know a lot of points of entertainment or where you can go see this or that or eat or this and that and the other and also how to get around using the transit system. So, we use them as ambassadors as well. It’s a very good role for them, and they do it very well, so. It’s, you know, when we say, you know, in the transit industry, you hear the word “multimodal” a lot. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Right. Dennis Ribeiro: So, I like to think the Police Department is multimodal as it refers to police services. Doug Delony: Mm-hmm. Dennis Ribeiro: So, we have a lot of services, you know, internally at MPD that a lot of agencies don’t have because of the uniqueness of our mission. Doug Delony: Well, thank you so much for joining us. Dennis Ribeiro: Absolutely. I had a blast. This was my first podcast, and it was actually fun. Doug Delony: Well, thank you. Dennis Ribeiro: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Doug Delony: Thank you. Dennis Ribeiro: Thank you. Doug Delony: That wraps it up for this edition. Thank you to you, the listener, and all of our METRO riders out there. And as a reminder, like we said earlier, you can reach MPD just by hitting #MPD on your smartphone but don’t forget to download the MPD Connect app that we talked about. You can get it for Android and iOS devices. I’m Doug Delony. If you’d like to check out more episodes of this podcast and subscribe, you can find all the links you need on ridemetro.org. As always, drive less and do more with Houston METRO. 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