Do cops on buses prevent crime?

Fort Collins said it plans to increase officer presence on public transportation

The city of Fort Collins has recently announced there will be an increased police presence on public transportation throughout the city.

They do not say how many officers, how often, or what routes the officers will be on; this is almost certainly on purpose.

Do police officers make public transportation safer, though?

Police officers, are by their nature, reactive. They respond to problems, not before problems.

People don’t … commit crimes in the face of a police officer generally. Which, yeah, that could be the point of this project.

But you also may have just postponed the potential crime.

I’m not advocating for more crime obviously, I just don’t believe that having more officers around stops the crime.

I envision, if the city is concerned with criminal activity on public transportation, that a team similar to the local HOPE team would suffice as apposed to full-on officers. People who know how to de-escalate and observe; then if the need truly arises, an officer can be called.

This also broaches the area of the ‘riding the bus’ paradigm.

“Riding the bus is for poor people.”

“Riding the bus is for people who can’t afford a car.”

Riding the bus should be a way to get around town for everyone, not just those who can’t afford a car or another means of transportation.

This just rings to me … of a slight aspect of demographics.

Will the city also be increasing the police officer visibility on the City Park Golf Course? Will the police force be around Whole Foods more often, or is it just the Walmart?

(I don’t have any insight on where the police get called more often, in reference to the city’s grocery stores.)

Do police officers make people feel safer when riding transportation? Perhaps a select subset of the population. However, I would be willing to gamble that people don’t necessarily feel safer, especially when the officer is encumbered in their usual getup; gun, bullet-proof vest, camera, cuffs, et al. Police can be intimidating.

I don’t necessarily have these answers.

Almost always, these conversations come down to why people commit crime: lack of food, lack of stable housing, lack of a place to medicate, lack of public services.

I don’t want anyone sleeping on the bus as I imagine anyone wants to sleep on the bus. But calling the police on them doesn’t seem like the right answer.