electronic devices

San Francisco BART Crime Statistics Show Crime Inching Down

The number of aggravated assaults on San Francisco BART trains and platforms has increased, while overall violent crimes went down this year.

BART Police Chief Carlos Roja cited a slight but encouraging downward trend in crime as the transit agency released statistics from the first third of 2018.

“The latest numbers show that progress is being made but we still have a lot of work to do,” said Rojas. “By using crime data to inform our deployment decisions and emphasizing the visible presence of our officers, we think we’re headed in the right direction.”

BART officers arrested 148 people for felony crimes and 410 for misdemeanors, compared to 127 and 390, respectively, during the same period last year.

Violent crime dropped 9 percent from January to April, despite a 26 percent jump in aggravated assaults.

Roja called it a step in the right direction after a 24 percent increase in violent crime in 2017, driven by robberies of electronic devices.

Public criticism has intensified over overt drug use in BART corridors.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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