Why We Can't End Violence on Transit With More Police (Lindiwe Rennert)
Apr 23, 2024
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Lindiwe Rennert, Urban Institute Senior Research Associate, discusses the root causes of violence against transit workers, highlighting the correlation with police brutality and income inequality. The podcast explores community-driven solutions to address violence on transit and challenges the role of armed transit police and elected officials in tackling this issue.
Violence against transit workers is linked to broader societal issues like income inequality and civil unrest, requiring institutional responses.
Expansion of assault reporting criteria is crucial to capture the full spectrum of violence faced by transit workers.
Deep dives
Study on Transit Violence Correlations
Analyzing the correlation between factors like income inequality and civil unrest with assaults on transit workers revealed significant insights. Trends over the past years showed a rise in assaults on transit workers, particularly since COVID. Statistical analysis linked the rise of assaults to income inequality measured by the Gini coefficient and societal variables like civil unrest. This correlation highlights the broader social issues contributing to transit violence and suggests solutions involving institutional responses and addressing income inequality.
Challenges in Defining Transit Worker Assaults
Defining major assaults on transit workers as instances resulting in fatality or injury requiring medical transport reveals the severity of reported assaults. However, this definition underrepresents the actual instances of violence, including verbal assaults, spitting, shoving, and other forms of aggression faced by transit workers. The data limitation underscores the need to expand reporting criteria to capture the full spectrum of assaults and challenges faced by transit workers.
Response to Transit Violence
Transit agencies' responses to transit violence have varied, with some resorting to armed law enforcement or National Guard deployment, raising concerns about their effectiveness and impact on communities of color. Alternatives such as increasing surveillance, implementing 'see something, say something' apps, and deploying unarmed transit ambassadors aim to address safety concerns. Research indicates that relying solely on law enforcement for security may not address root causes and could exacerbate racial disparities in incidents of violence.
Across the country right now, cities and transit agencies are taking steps to address violence on their systems — particularly against the people who work to keep our buses and trains running, clean, and safe for everyone to ride. But what are the root causes of that violence — and are strategies like deploying armed police actually addressing them? On today's episode of The Brake, we speak to Urban Institute Senior Research Associate Lindiwe Rennert about her research into how violence against transit workers correlates with larger problems like police brutality and income inequality – and what that means for transit advocates who want to keep people safe on board. Listen in, and check out our earlier coverage of Rennert's work here.
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