SEATTLE — For commuters like Darrell Wrenn, the light rail is a great option. He takes it four to five days a week.
“Overall my ride experience with the light rail has been really pleasant, but I am always on the lookout,” said Wrenn.
He said he feels safe, "But most people don’t have my law enforcement background. My head is always on a swivel.”
Wrenn has 15 years of law enforcement experience. While he feels safe, he wasn’t surprised to hear about two violent attacks that happened last week.
"Attackers are aware of what’s going on, they see the lack of presence in law enforcement and security,” said Wrenn.
On July 28 the King County Sheriff’s Office said a rider hit a man in the head with a rock. He was taken to Harborview. Two days later deputies found a man on the train with stab wounds. He was also taken to the hospital.
“I think there needs to be more law enforcement presence, but I understand staffing issues won’t allow that,” said Wrenn.
Sound Transit Spokesperson John Gallagher said it hired 50% more security officers this year to help with the crime.
“We have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of riders every month and the number of assaults is still relatively low,” said Gallagher.
So far this year, there have been 154 assaults compared to 143 assaults all of last year.
“We’re seeing an increase in numbers because we have a lot more personnel out there to collect data,” said Gallagher.
Many riders weren’t aware of the attacks.
"Yeah, I didn’t know about it,” said Kim Shire who rides the light rail about once a month.
In an email, KCSO said the Sheriff’s Office "prides itself on being transparent and sharing information about major incidents," but said nothing was shared about these assaults.
“It’s part of urban life and Seattle seems like a lot safer of a place to be than the other cities I’ve traveled to. So I’m not worried about it,” said Shire.
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