San Diego MTS approves contract to provide security services on Trolleys, buses, and MTS properties

Image courtesy of San Diego MTS

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Board of Directors approved a new 5-year, $66 million contract with Inter-Con Security to provide security services on Trolleys, buses, and on MTS properties. The contract is for three base years with an option to extend for an additional two years and will go into effect on January 1, 2022.

MTS operates 95 bus routes and three Trolley lines across 10 cities and unincorporated areas of San Diego county. “This is an important day for the future of MTS passenger safety and security,” said Monica Montgomery Steppe, MTS Boardmember and chair of the agency’s Public Security Committee. “We look forward to Inter-Con joining our efforts to reshape the way MTS manages passenger security.”

Inter-Con employs a highly diverse workforce of over 30,000 employees across North and South America, Africa, and Europe, and provides tailored security services to Fortune 500 companies; public utilities; high net worth individuals; non-profit organizations; as well as federal, state, and local governments around the world.

At MTS, Inter-Con will provide support by employing 190 public safety officers to patrol the system. The MTS service area covers 570 square miles, 62 stations, 53 miles of double-tracked railway. Officers are responsible for conducting fare inspections, acting as system ambassadors, supporting bus and rail operations and other employees in need, helping with lost and found, and much more.

In addition to the Fare Evasion Diversion Program pilot and hiring a new security contractor, MTS has also implemented other changes to its security policies and procedures, including:

Hiring a new security director
Establishing a Security and Passenger Safety Community Advisory Group
Adopting many of the principles in the “8 Can’t Wait” campaign and as a guideline for its use-of-force policy
Banning carotid restraints and choke holds, including the prohibition of using knee pressure on the neck, throat or head
Adopting a “duty to intervene” if MTS security officers witness excessive force by another employee

Conducting a third-party peer review of its security policies and procedures, which includes a community-based steering committee to assist with recommendations

ON DEMAND: In this webinar, Regina Lester, Vice President of Security & Safety Operations at Toledo Zoo, will share her insights on implementing security technologies in the entertainment sector and the challenges all organizations face — large and small — when it comes to balancing budget and security.