DENVER — The Regional Transportation District's (RTD) new police chief is entering the job with only 21 officers, including himself, and little to no enforcement power.
The transit agency's small number of officers and lack of authority was highlighted at a Denver public safety meeting Wednesday.
RTD says it spends about $2 million a year hiring outside help from private security and Denver Police Department officers — despite DPD struggling with its own staffing issues.
During Wednesday's meeting, Denver City Council members raised questions about why RTD continues to rely on an already stretched thin police department instead of hiring its own officers.
The transit agency has limited arresting power at Union Station, and no enforcement power on buses and trains in Denver County. RTD Chief Joel Fitzgerald said this system is not how other transit agencies across the country operate.
“This is something unique to Denver, and something I hope to work through to ensure as we hire throngs of new police officers that we are not hiring and taking away from service areas of Denver having to have someone come and process and arrest,” he said.
Fitzgerald said Wednesday RTD is in talks with the City of Denver to increase its arresting power, and the agency plans to hire more officers.
Adding to RTD's problems, Armando Saldate, executive director of Denver's Department of Public Safety, revealed the crackdown on crime at Union Station has only pushed the problem to Colfax and Broadway.
“What we’re trying to do with our limited resources and abilities is effectively deploy our personnel to have the proper response to those areas,” Saldate said.
DPD officers have made 1,186 arrests at Union Station so far this year. Those numbers have increasingly declined from 341 arrests in February to just 71 in July.
DPD says the decrease is due to, in part, collaborative enforcement and outreach at Union Station, as well as fewer people congregating there due to warmer weather. The department expects issues at Union Station to increase as the weather gets colder and is preparing for more enforcement, despite limited resources.