Metro: Security firm will be booted from tunnel

By Kristin Hanes & KOMO Staff Published: Feb 23, 2010 at 2:43 PM PDT Last Updated: Feb 23, 2010 at 7:14 PM PDT
Metro: Security firm will be booted from tunnel »Play Video
SEATTLE -- The firm that employed security guards who stood by and watched as a 15-year-old girl was beaten Metro's downtown bus tunnel will be replaced, officials said Tuesday.

Speaking before a King County council committee, Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond said the change would not be immediate, and he offered no timeline.

"Olympic Security will be there for a little while," he said and, in the interim, their guards will be trained on new protocols that will allow them to intervene in violent episodes if they choose.

Previously, guards employed by Olympic Security were told to only "observe and report" without getting involved.

Video of the January 28 attack has been widely distributed, and Desmond said Metro needs to make changes.

"We've got to show a different face and a different scheme in the tunnel," he told the council committee. "I would like to reassure the public that the situation as we saw from that video will not happen again."

Desmond said Metro is also reviewing its policies about where to use police or private security.

"The security review that we are undertaking that we will do with our peers in the industry will help us determine what is that better balance, if there is a better balance, between armed law enforcement and unarmed security guards," he said.


Watch the security video.

Metro Transit Police Chief Dave Jutilla said the change to a new security company would be overseen by the King County Sheriff's Office.

"We'll use the resources of the sheriff's office as this takes place to make sure rider safety and customer safety continues of paramount importance," he said.

Olympic's contract with the county runs through October, but its services in the tunnel could end soon.

"A phase out and a phase down of the current company and a phase-up of a new company," Jutilla said.

It's not clear exactly when the switch to a new security company would happen, and Olympic Security may continue to provide other customer service and support services to Metro, including watching over the agency's park and ride lots.

The contract is worth $1.3 million annually and Olympic will have to fight to get it renewed as the county plans to put the whole contract back out for bid.

Officials with Olympic Security did not want to comment on the contract change.