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Bellevue Police Department has quietly created a dedicated light rail unit to patrol trains, stations, platforms and parking structures as the full 2 Line extension prepares to connect Seattle to the Eastside years overdue. It appears intended to help stop Seattle’s drug addicted homeless people, who routinely ride for free, from causing problems in the far cleaner and safer Bellevue. Sergeant White, who leads the new unit, spelled out what the job looks like in a briefing posted on X. He noted that it “allows us to focus specifically on those challenges that the light rail brings to Bellevue.” “We are responsible for patrolling and responding to incidents on any light rail properties, including the trains, stations, platforms, parking structures, all here in the city of Bellevue,” White explained on the department’s light rail unit introduction. The implied admission baked into this whole announcement is that Bellevue did not need a dedicated light rail crime unit when its transit options were limited to buses that locals actually used. The city needs one now because the 2 Line is about to become a direct pipeline from Seattle’s transit system, where fare enforcement is a suggestion and the platforms often function as homeless shelters. Years of bad decisions by Seattle will now impact the city of Bellevue. It’s insane that Seattle has no gates and the entrances to the train stations. That would do a lot to increase public safety. No help is coming from Seattle or King County. They will continue to make decisions that hurt public safety. The only chance for help is at the federal level. Kincaid will focus all federal resources on public safety. Kincaid for Congress. submitted by /u/duckduckew |
