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TriMet has decided to move away from keeping transit officers in uniform.

(The Oregonian)

Here's how the game of fare-dodging is typically played on MAX: A uniformed TriMet inspector steps on a train, and several freeloading riders run like chickens for the doors.

"They'll clear out and jump off before they can get caught," said Transit Police Cmdr. Mike Crebs. "In the past, it's been really hard to catch up with people who are really abusing the system."

In the past? Yep. You read that right.

Taking a cue from transit police in other cities, TriMet has started using plainclothes officers to add an element of surprise for scalawags on the daily commute.

Sure, it's not exactly a bold Sherlock-esque stroke of policing. (In fact, you're probably asking, "Why in the name of the No. 14 hasn't TriMet done this before?")

But incognito cops riding TriMet are allowing the agency to catch up to serial fare evaders and some of its most troublesome riders, Crebs said.

During Thursday morning's commute, six officers dressed as every day urban professionals boarded trains through different doors and took their seats.

After several minutes of riding and watching for people causing problems, the officers stood up between stations, showed their badges and told riders to pull out their fares.

In one case, a man darted for the door as soon as the train pulled into the next stop.

"Our guys grabbed him," Crebs said. "He had a pending exclusion. We arrested him for theft of services and trespassing."

Roberta Altstadt, a TriMet spokeswoman, said plainclothes cops announcing fare checks will become more regular. There are even discussions to conduct the missions on bus lines.

"We want people to always wonder if there might be a police officer on the train," she said. "This isn't just about fare evasion. It's about security."

In 2011, The Oregonian found that TriMet, despite a budget crisis and a spike in crime on the system, was getting increasingly lax with fare cheats on MAX. After the newspaper published its findings, the agency began a crackdown with new uniformed fare enforcers that apparently hasn't eased up.

The last data from TriMet shows that enforcement officers wrote 16,165 citations for fare evasion from April 1, 2012, to March 31 of this year. That's compared to 15,730 for the same period the year before. Meanwhile, warnings declined 19 percent to 6,482 while exclusions increased 2 percent to 8,106.

As TriMet prepared to eliminate its free rail zone and increase fare prices last fall, General Manager Neil McFarlane promised a crack down on fare dodgers and troublemakers.

Last fall, Oregon's largest public transit agency sent officers on three-day "missions" to Seattle, Denver and Los Angeles to observe successful policing technics on trains and buses.

Case studies of transit security conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation have found steep declines in transit crime after systems in Detroit, Washington, D.C. and Denver began using plainclothes officers.



In the past, however, TriMet's transit police commanders, including crebs, have wanted to maintain a uniformed presence on the system. "But then I saw how well this has worked in Denver," Crebs said.

During recent rides, TriMet's plainclothes transit police, who carry radios and smartphones to do background checks on MAX, have issued a slew of 30-day exclusions and made several arrests, including some riders who were caught with outstanding warrants.

Some cases, however, merit just a warning.

On Thursday morning, a woman dug around in her purse, effusively apologizing for not being able to find her pass. Officers noticed that she had several expired monthly passes. A background check turned up no strikes against her.

"Obviously," Crebs said, "this was a person who has judiciously purchased her fare in the past. We let her keep riding."

-- Joseph Rose