Metro CEO touts video surveillance improvements ahead of busy Fourth of July

Metro General Manager Randy Clarke noted there s no precaution threat to the region as officers gear up for Fourth of July weekend But as he gave reporters a look inside the operations at the transit system s Integrated Command and Communications Center in Alexandria Virginia he pointed to a bank of massive screens lining the walls of the facility When you re in the field you can kind of see what you can see and what you hear on the radio he stated We re omnipresent We re everywhere And that s kind of the message we want to deliver to the society which is If you are on this system we care about your safety And if you are trying to use this system and you are doing something wrong you will be seen and you are going to get caught Clarke added To drive home his point Clarke pointed to Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Anzallo and Deputy Chief Maurice McKinney and disclosed These people behind us are going to catch you because we can see what you are doing Clarke commented there are cameras across the system in stations on buses and on trains He pointed out that Metro s crime stats are low with the system on pace to show a record low A big component of that is our great transit police department but also our video operations Clarke mentioned There have been system upgrades added to Metro since last year s Fourth of July celebration when Clarke commented there were about riders on Metro on the holiday There s no threat to the Washington metropolitan area However with events going on in the world we do have to be vigilant Anzallo notified WTOP Source