Many Community Transit riders use the park and ride parking lots provided near Community Transit passenger boarding sites. Imagine this:
One parks the car under the security camera, feeling it is a safe spot to do so, arrives back from work to find something amiss with the car. During broad daylight, someone removed the two new rear rims and tires from the car, (valued at $800) replacing them with old nasty rims and bald tires, one of which was flat.
The perpetrators were kind enough to leave a note on masking tape over the driver’s side keyhole, announcing the switch.
The car owner calls the police. The jurisdiction is the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, which wants to issue a report number instead of doing an investigation.
The driver insists on an investigation. The sheriff’s deputy shows up to investigate, takes pictures and writes a report. Then, the car owner asks the sheriff’s deputy to check for finger prints. The old nasty rims were too awful to take prints.
However, the back side of the masking tape contained several very good prints. The result: more than likely, the perpetrators will have to be looking over their shoulder for a long time, particularly if they read The Herald.
The deputy checks to see the surveillance camera tape. Guess what?
There wasn’t one. Seems with budget cuts and all, only a few of the “security cameras” are actually working. Did the perpetrators know that? Worse yet, for Snohomish County there are only two sheriff’s deputies for park and ride detail for the entire county. What’s wrong with that picture?
Community Transit riders need to have a Rider Alert to alert them to the fact that the park and rides may look secure, but in fact are not secure.
People who choose to ride the bus deserve better treatment and security. Community Transit is wrong to provide a false perception of security.
Marysville
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