Posted on 01/26/2017 1:08:53 AM PST by nickcarraway
Threats, weapons and fights.
A violent work environment is part of shocking stories from one whistleblower who works on board Albuquerque city buses. After ABQ Ride's director told KOB he was surprised to hear about a stabbing on one of his buses last weekend, an employee spoke out.
The current employee who asked not to be identified said everyone from drivers to security guards have begged ABQ Ride's leadership to do something about the violence for years, to no response.
"Swords have been pulled. Bats have been pulled. Pipes have pulled. Guns have been pulled, and it's just a matter of time" before someone is seriously injured, the employee said.
"I wouldn't allow my family to ride a bus," the employee added.
The employee contacted KOB after seeing a story about a Saturday stabbing aboard a city bus. It left a man critically injured, but ABQ Ride director Bruce Rizzieri Monday said it is safe to city busses.
“I was very surprised someone got stabbed on the bus," Rizzieri said. "Again, it's surprising cause it really doesn't happen."
It was that comment the employee called most troubling, saying concerns about constant assaults on employees have been reported to the administration over and over.
"I wouldn't doubt if it's not daily," the employee said.
Rizzieri said there are cameras on buses for added security, but the department will not release video from Saturday's stabbing until APD finishes its investigation. He also said 20 security guards patrol bus routes around the city.
"How are you confident saying that, that you have 20 security officers?" the employee told KOB. “For the entire city of Albuquerque?"
The employee said security is vastly short-staffed and violent passengers often know they're unevenly matched. "They'll run a shift with three officers for the entire city of Albuquerque," the employee said. "They call us out for people with guns on the bus. We're not even equipped or qualified to even deal with that situation."
They are threats that could turn deadly at any moment, the employee said.
"It's to the point where sometimes you wonder if you're going to make it to work, or if you're going to call your loved ones from a hospital or your coworker's going to call your loved ones from a hospital depending on how bad you are," the employee said.
Albuquerque city spokeswoman Rhiannon Samuel didn't respond to a request to interview Rizzieri about the claims made by the employee. Samuel did respond via text message. She said, in part, " ... when (Rizzieri) said these incidents are rare he was not responding to overall violent incidents on the bus but rather ones like the one that we saw over the weekend where there was a stabbing.
"He also explained to me that the director and supervisors have been working with drivers over the last three years on their safety concerns."
Samuel added those talks have resulted in safety improvements, including sliding glass windows.
I hope that is ballistic glass.
Don’t know for certain about ABQ/NM but I bet it’s like here where one of the prohibited by law locations for concealed carry is local mass transit. Just dumb...
Correction: common carrier passenger transport is NOT one of the prohibited-by-law CCW locations here. However, the local transit authority does post the buses with the gun-buster decals. And, while I was on handgunlaw.us, I did find out NM does make carry on a public bus a misdemeanor.
Guardian Angels should patrol the buses. Pay them by dismantling Americorp and the Peace Corp. That’s close to a billion bucks. They come with their own cell phones. Minimal training.
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