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News / Northwest

King County talks potential changes after fatal stabbing of bus driver

By Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times
Published: January 14, 2025, 11:15am

SEATTLE — Just under one month after a bus driver was killed on duty, Metropolitan King County Council members were all ears Monday morning as union leaders demanded more protection and county agencies promised to supply more police and social workers aiding the nation’s seventh-busiest transit system.

Passengers might see police “surges” in transit stations and vehicles, similar to recent patrols at Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco and New York City Transit, as suggested Monday by Councilmembers Rod Dembowski of northeast Seattle and Claudia Balducci of Bellevue. The goal would be “to reset system expectations about conduct,” Dembowski said. “I wonder if something like that here might be of value?” he told a union leader.

“We desperately need that,” answered Greg Woodfill, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587, which represents 4,500 members at Metro. “Nobody feels that there will be any consequences.” The population causing trouble is relatively small, he said, so “if can get some control, that will have a good effect.”

Monday’s session was scheduled shortly after Friday’s emotional memorial service in Sodo for bus operator Shawn Yim, who was stabbed to death while on duty Dec. 18. A rider pepper-sprayed and kicked Yim during a dispute in the University District over an open window, charging records say. Yim followed him off the bus while calling 911 just before 3 a.m. in hopes of leading police to the suspect. The man backtracked and scuffled with Yim before stabbing the transit worker at least 10 times, charging documents say. The suspect, Richard Sitzlack, was arrested three days later aboard a different overnight bus and charged with murder.

Metro, the King County Sheriff’s Office and Local 587 began working on safety initiatives last spring, after security conditions deteriorated in the early 2020s. Everybody aboard deserves a safe and welcoming journey, whether passengers or front-line workers, Metro General Manager Michelle Allison told the council. “A single incident is too many,” she said, “and the tragic loss of Shawn Yim, is a reminder that we need to do more.”

Speakers acknowledged violence isn’t just a transit problem but a community problem, and to solve it requires mental health care, not just enforcement. Even tidier bus stops have a calming effect and make people less aggressive, testified Pauline Van Senus, known as the Transit Fairy, who cleans bus stops.

Councilmember Reagan Dunn of Southeast King County said his staff is writing legislation to form a safety and security task force, one of several demands by Local 587.

Metro carried 7.3 million passengers in November, or 264,000 a day, gradually rising yet below its 400,000 riders in the 2010s. Sound Transit’s trains and buses carried 3.6 million passengers, or 120,000 daily, led by recent extensions to Northgate and Lynnwood.

County officials mentioned other safety initiatives Monday:

* Metro’s police unit has filled 65 of its 79 positions. The county has approved 89 officers. Last year, transit officers made 400 arrests, Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall said. Not all were booked, but the jail reopened for misdemeanor cases last year. Even if all positions are filled, that would still be fewer than BART’s 225 transit cops, she said. Deputies at King County Metro are sometimes riding on buses, which differs from their tactics the last several years.

* Fare enforcement will return to RapidRide buses May 31. Nonpaying riders can be fined, issued a low-income ORCA fare card for discount $1 rides (regular fare is $3) or told to perform community service after the third violation in a year. Metro suspended fare enforcement in spring 2020 to reduce COVID transmission risks. Since then, the county has dragged its feet rather than cause confrontations, in light of that year’s racial justice protests and local audits finding Black and homeless riders were charged with evasion in disproportionately high numbers.

* Harder bus interiors are in the works, like streetcars in which operators are divided from the passenger seats. Metro ordered four prototypes totaling $5.7 million from Solaris, to arrive starting fall 2026, spokesperson Al Sanders said.

* Security guards are increasing to 160 this year, up from 70 at Metro since early 2023. They’re focused on Routes 7, 36, A, C, D, E, F and H, where the most security problems arise.

* Behavioral health teams are now on duty 24 hours a day at Burien Transit Center, said Kelly Rider, county director of community and human services. These teams, which combine health professionals with workers who were formerly homeless, distribute snacks and warm clothes, check on the well-being of riders, and defuse or prevent conflicts. They met 7,800 people and de-escalated 129 crisis incidents, administered Narcan to four people who had overdosed, and referred people to housing 248 times between last January and November, she said. That rate, of about one housing referral per night, reflects the area’s dire shortage of shelter space, outreach workers have said. More social outreach teams are circulating at Sound Transit’s downtown stations, and 10 mobile crisis teams formed in December to serve other corners of King County, she said.

Monday’s meeting is likely the first of several in 2025. Woodfill has called upon citizens to demand change, and worries about losing political momentum.

“I like the talk, but it’s just talk, until we see action,” he said after the hearing.

A surge in violence started a few years ago, with 77 assaults on passengers and staff that were serious enough to require ambulance transport to hospitals from 2020 to 2023. Among the worst were a near-fatal stabbing on Sound Transit near Othello Station, a hammer-wielding man at Beacon Hill Station, a rock attack at Sodo Station, a fatal bus stabbing in SeaTac and a deadly shooting of a bus rider in White Center.

“Now, confronted with this brutal murder (of Yim) the public’s all aware of, everybody’s scrambling to do the right thing,” Woodfill said.

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