On Tuesday, a team from local CBS News affiliate WCCO took a ride on the city's public transportation to uncover what was taking place. According to WCCO, the team witnessed "open drug use" and "exchanges that looked like drug deals" across the network. Drug paraphernalia was also discovered around the vehicles and on station platforms.
March 24, 2023
After viewing the footage, Metro Transit's senior communications manager Drew Kerr said it was "hard to watch" and acknowledged that these were "very serious issues." He explained that the agency attempted to resolve the situation by increasing the police presence on trains and station platforms. "It's a hard environment to work in, and it's a hard environment for our customers to ride in and feel safe in. We acknowledge all of that; these are very serious issues."
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Kerr noted that there weren't enough officers available to have one on each train,"This is a big issue," he continued, "lots of parts of society are being impacted here, and transit is a part of that.
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We're gonna need a lot of resources and help and partnership to have that answer." WCCO reported that in 2022, there was a 50 percent spike in crimes on the Metro. These stats are also seen in other American cities.
Drug use and overdoses have become so commonplace that the agency had to issue a statement cautioning staff not to assume that people who appear to be asleep do not need medical attention.
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