Committee advances proposal to add uniformed MCTS security at stops and on buses

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee County Board's finance committee advanced a proposed budget amendment seeking to increase the number of uniformed security officers on transit buses and at stops.

The amendment would shift nearly $621,000 away from plans to replace more than 400 surveillance cameras at the county jail, courthouse and public safety building. 

Leaders from the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office testified against the proposal at Friday's meeting, but the committee approved the amendment by a 5-2 vote. The measure still must be adopted by the full board, which takes its final budget vote on November 6.

Supervisors Shawn Rolland and Steve Taylor pushed the amendment. Rolland noted estimates showing the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) is losing between $4 million and $10 million because about a third of riders aren't paying fares.

Rolland said he supported replacing cameras as they fail, using the county's contingency fund, but he maintained beefing up bus security was a bigger priority.

"I feel like we're looking for reasons to not do this, instead of seeing the problem right in front of us," Rolland said. "Fare evasion has been a topic that has been in front of us, literally, all this year."

In their testimony, top sheriff's office commanders insisted the camera replacements cannot wait. They noted many of the cameras have been in service for 10 or more years despite having a five-year shelf life.

Chief Deputy Brian Barkow told supervisors operations at the jail are disrupted when a camera fails. Personnel must move operations and inmates out of that area until the camera is repaired or replaced.

"Because the legal and liability risk of not having cameras that are watching and monitoring," Barkow said. "Not just what occupants are doing, but what our staff is doing."

Supervisors who backed the amendment noted the public safety building is slated to be demolished the coming years, so they questioned the wisdom of large-scale camera replacement.

MCTS officials noted they've been building out their own public safety program using existing money. Spokesperson Anna Schryver said the system currently has 16 officers patrolling routes in two-person teams.

The transit system has eight marked SUVs. MCTS plans to hire four more officers by the end of this year. MCTS security officers are neither armed nor are they considered law enforcement. 

MCTS officials said those officers, along with a social media messaging push around encouraging people to pay their fares was generating some progress.

The agency was unable to provide any metrics to back that statement, but transit officials said they are compiling data and will eventually present their findings to the board.

Still, MCTS President Steve Fuentes told the committee the agency won't turn down additional resources.

"It's hard to quantify what the effects of the additional officers would be," Fuentes said. "But we welcome help where it can come from."