What does the Transit Police do?

Submitted by PresidentBush2 t3_11axi1f in boston

I’ve always wondered about their history and objectives today (e.g. what prompted the MBTA to have its own police force?). Do they have any jurisdictional authority? Have they ever regularly rode subway cars instead of mostly just sit outside stations in their heated vehicles?

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jojenns t1_j9un9k8 wrote

The T travels between towns so the T police have jurisdiction on any crimes committed on T property. The are a number of assaults on the T daily they handle all of those. They do sometimes ride the T in plain clothes but not in uniform. There is no appetite for the T police to ride in uniform some people consider that in itself violence.

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nonades t1_j9unpyh wrote

Less than regular police

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Icy-Neck-2422 t1_j9uoq0b wrote

They have to deal with those BC High hooligans we keep hearing about.

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ik1nky t1_j9upu2p wrote

They park in bus stops and browse police FB groups.

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biddily t1_j9us21z wrote

I've seen them around when the fencing around the tracks gets stolen.

Considering how often the fences get stolen they suck at their job.

I've seen them set up and demand to do 'bag checks' of everyone entering a downtown station but lol, the stations are all to close, we all just walk to the next station. Fuck you not-cop.

Supposedly, SUPPOSEDLY, there's some funky agreements between the city and the T about some parks that align the tracks. The T has to maintain them or some shit, so the T-police have to show up when something happens at those parks. It's weird.

Also. Track bridges. Sigh. The road below the bridge is joint property, so if something happens below the bridge T police has to show up. A car hits the bridge? T-police. Homeless people under there? T-police. Paint dicks to try and get the sidewalk fixed cause the T, city and DCR won't take ownership? T-police.

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smokesmokesmokes t1_j9uwvyq wrote

They pepper spray me once every five years or so. Last time I was trying to take the bay out of back.

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Some_Ride1014 t1_j9uz6ez wrote

They have full jurisdiction in the 175 towns and cities that make up the the MBTA service area, on and off MBTA property. I have seen them pull cars over for traffic infractions in Boston.

That said they sleep. Made a food app delivery to there HQ, walked in and the Desk Sgt was sound asleep, sitting up in his chair, with arms crossed. I stood there for a few minutes waiting for customer to come to lobby. He never woke up

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West_Map_8083 t1_j9v3ldy wrote

They babysit homeless people and that’s just about it.

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Anustart15 t1_j9v5mg5 wrote

Replying to Coggs362 (#1,971,826)

>Not sure why you got the downvotes.

Probably from people that have been harassed by the problem homeless that they would have loved to have already had been removed by transit police

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Bluestrues t1_j9v6fmn wrote

I believe they have more jurisdiction than any other police force but not payed as well as the others

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Coggs362 t1_j9v6khx wrote

Replying to Anustart15 (#1,973,913)

Fair enough. Like I was explaining to an irate fellow commuter couple months back about that - this is the symptoms of a society that allowed the Opioid Crisis, and didn't place a serious commitment to mental health. (obviously there's a whole cocktail of contributing factors, but those seem the top two).

I deal with the homeless pretty much daily coming and going through there. I don't like it anymore than anyone else.

It's a goddamn shame, but the real solutions apparently are out of reach of our state and city officials, no?

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_Hack_The_Planet_ t1_j9v8bnp wrote

Replying to Some_Ride1014 (#1,972,673)

> He never woke up

Narcolepsy is a reason to not hire someone in the first place, but the Union has a policy against firing someone for having a medical diagnosis of narcolepsy. It's the same with any union job. That's why he had a desk job and wasn't driving around.

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Its_me_mikey t1_j9v8ucn wrote

One important thing they do is address people who wander onto tracks. Sometimes drunk or high but also suicidal people. If you see someone on the tracks call 617-222-1212.

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Trpdoc t1_j9vej06 wrote

They’re useless

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TheChickenWasDry t1_j9vhi3z wrote

Idk but I’m always happy to see them around DTX since that seems to be where a lot of random violence in the city is concentrated in

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Upper_Hold6426 t1_j9vqtfg wrote

Talk all the shit you want about transit police, but when the marathon bomber was sitting in a boat, the transit police were tasked to go in there and get him out. So we can all make jokes, but obviously some of them are highly trained and helped us during a time of crisis.

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downthewell62 t1_j9w0dis wrote

Escort Nazis from the mbta to the hospitals they protest

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TheTr7nity t1_j9wkovg wrote

Behind the State Police, I think the MBTA Transit Police has the largest jurisdiction. They are responsible for anything MBTA but they can also pull you over for traffic stuff I guess. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a transit cop riding the train, however, when I use to get off at Forest Hills, the transit cops I saw usually seemed busy.

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socialthrowaway87 t1_j9wncau wrote

Replying to Upper_Hold6426 (#1,977,721)

I mean if it wasn’t them, I guarantee you another agency would have went and got them or had jurisdiction. They wouldn’t have been like welp, I guess he outsmarted us. I’d rather gut them, use the money to fund transit, and rely on local police. Another perk would be I wouldn’t have to watch the same one mad mug people going into my local station. I have yet to actually see them do anything useful personally. Just walk around. Once they were clearly looking for someone. Some are plain clothes though too so at least they have to enjoy the stink and suck with us.

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ineedscissor t1_j9wqiv0 wrote

I got robbed once on the bus, and they were very helpful in insisting it was some kid who was much shorter then the guy who robbed me. Kept asking me if I was sure, that it sounded like this was the guy, etc…

Hope that kid didn’t get blamed by the next victim they pressured to id him

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ineedscissor t1_j9wrtuy wrote

Replying to Upper_Hold6426 (#1,977,721)

Watertown was absolutely crawling with cops from many jurisdictions, federal, state and local that day. I think the shootout had university cops as well. The mbta cops were hardly the only people who were dealing with thay

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M_Shulman t1_j9ws2t0 wrote

They walk the T parking lots and tow vehicles with expired reg… got me once 10 days after it expired… had to call 3 different numbers to find my car.

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alohadave t1_j9wtht4 wrote

Replying to TheTr7nity (#1,982,970)

> They are responsible for anything MBTA but they can also pull you over for traffic stuff I guess.

They have full police powers in every city and town that the T operates in.

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Phat_Irish t1_j9xquw3 wrote

Replying to biddily (#1,971,397)

Ok, so they have a job they have to do and you’re just shutting on them and getting downvoted. You sound like a total dick, actually. Type of guy that probably looks down on service staff etc. as well I’m guessing.

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dirtnasty1312 t1_j9y44f6 wrote

They stand around together in front of train stations and chew the fat…so essentially they do nothing…wasted tax money imo

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simpletongue t1_j9yaz0b wrote

When I was assaulted on the green line the transit police were extremely helpful. They had a female cop drive me home to the suburbs so I wouldn't have to stay on the train. And they called me twice in the next 48 hours to see if I needed help accessing resources, navigating the system, etc.

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BeansWest t1_j9yuoq3 wrote

They take k-turns in the middle of Centre St in JP then scream at you when you get closer to them because you think they're turning onto a side street like a normal person.

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biddily t1_j9zo4ik wrote

Replying to Phat_Irish (#1,989,633)

mmmm. yes. same thing.

Being frustrated that the fences around the tracks keep getting stolen and its SUPER dangerous because its also adjacent to a park and an elementary school. Being peeved at T-station bag-checks cause I don't want people looking through my bag. Being aware when the T police show up at the park next to the track and train bridge by my house. Quietly going along with everything and just making comments about it here. TOTALLY the same thing as a complete dick.

Yeah. they have a job to do. They do things. I'm not shitting on them. Im commenting about them. Things they do outside of the normal train stuff.

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LadyGreyIcedTea t1_ja586gm wrote

A co-worker's spouse is an MBTA policeman. I know he often signs up to work the Gillette train on Patriots game days or during certain concerts. They ride the train and then "police" a certain section of the stadium.

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