ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. – From advanced security cameras and gating systems to prospering partnerships with police, things are changing around the bi-state region when it comes to MetroLink public transport.
39 MetroLink stations are getting all new state-of-the-art gating systems to help increase safety, but that’s not all. A new MetroLink location, creating airport-to-airport transportation, is in the works.
“We looked for this guy for a very, very long time,” said St. Clair Sgt. James Henricks.
A long time is coming after a quick crime spree at several MetroLink transit locations. In the span of four hours, 21-year-old Cornell Boyd is accused of committing three acts of robbery, leaving the last victim with a gunshot wound at the Belleville MetroLink Station.
“A lot of incidents that sometimes happen at MetroLink don’t involve the Metrolink at all; it’s kind of the melting pot of where those people meet up,” Henricks said.
A few months ago, another case left a 23-year-old dead after an altercation turned deadly at the Jackie-Joyner Kersee station in East St. Louis.
“Ultimately, what makes Metro Transit safer is what makes the region safer; if we work together on overall regional public safety and partner together, that’s what will make Metro Transit safer,” said General Manager of Security Kevin Scott.
Scott has received 99 federal recommendations to make MetroLink safer and so far, he’s helped fulfill 86 of them. He’s been an integral part of implementing the ‘Secure Platform Plan’ at five stations in Illinois. Seven stations in St. Louis are next, and with more riders choosing MetroLink, he says more needs to be done to protect them.
“Metrolink is an open concept system at this point,” Scoot expressed. “I cannot put a police officer or security officer on every train and every bus 24 hours a day. Its just not possible.”
That’s where the real-time camera center comes in. There are 1,300 recently upgraded cameras already in place and that number will soon rise to 2,000 thanks to the Secure Platform Plan. Designed to assist the hundreds of security officers walking the trains and platforms every day.
“You can sit in here and, just in a few minutes, see how security moves,” Scott said.
“The idea behind it as an incident happens, for our dispatchers, emergency dispatchers, for them to actually pull up those cameras and see what’s going on,” Henricks added.
On top of all those cameras, a $52 million gating project is in the works.
“Number one, we increase fair compliance to go through the gates with valid fair,” Scott said.
It’s full-hide proto-type gates, complimented by swinging doors for compliance and 8-foot wired fencing is designed to keep riders safe and criminals out. Reducing crime means more opportunity for development. Especially here at the Shiloh-Scott MetroLink station.
“The St. Clair County Transit District, with their lead and partnership with Metro, they are expanding MetroLink five and a half miles around Scott Air Force Base,” “You would be able to ride on the MetroLink from airport to airport; that’s pretty significant.”
From Shiloh-Scott to Lambert International, there’s one more step in making MetroLink more of a success.
“We have to change the dynamic and we have to change the perception,” Soctt expressed.
MetroLink told FOX 2 that phase 2 is now in solicitation, and by September of this year, we hope to see those fully executed platforms.
