Metro Sweep in Santa Monica: Deputies, Mental Health Teams, and Security Ensuring Passenger Safety

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies and Metro Armed Security conducted a comprehensive sweep of the Metro train system today, with a special focus on the downtown Santa Monica Station. This daily operation aims to ensure the welfare of passengers and uphold public safety standards. At the downtown Santa Monica Station, Metro Ambassadors, the Metro Outreach Team, and The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Mental Evaluation Team (LASD MET) were present, offering outreach and assistance to riders. The LASD MET provides crisis assessment, intervention, and targeted case management services to diffuse potentially violent situations. They prepare documentation to assist in the placement of persons with mental illness in acute inpatient psychiatric facilities or to link them to outpatient mental health services or appropriate community resources. Each team consists of a deputy sheriff and a DMH licensed mental health clinician who is Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS) designated to initiate in