BART's new Chief of Police Ed Alvarez (above) presented his vision for safety this week at the Board of Director's annual workshop. He shared promising new crime data showing his new strategies are already paying off.

BART crime in January is down 18% system wide when comparing January 2019 to January 2020. Cellphone thefts also showed a significant drop. January 2019 had 74 cellphone thefts and January 2020 had 46.

Chief Alvarez outlined plans to improve safety and secuirty at BART including dedicated train teams and ambassadors, officers assigned to a dedicated fixed-post at individual stations, a fully staffed police department and growing head count over the next five years, community policing, and transparency and accountability.

Ambassador Lateefa Davis also spoke about her experience the first week on the job, noting: "Just having our presence on trains, people really appreciate that. When we patrol platforms, people are happy to see us."

Ambassadors carry a list of resources and shelters to share with unhoused individuals they come across on trains.