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Situation
The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) is the transit authority, transportation planning agency, and regional traffic management agency for Southern Nevada. The RTC鈥檚 transit fleet consists of 36 routes served by almost 400 vehicles, which in 2009 carried nearly 60 million passengers in the Greater Las Vegas Valley. The RTC鈥檚 vision is to provide a safe, convenient and effective regional transportation system that enhances mobility and air quality for citizens and visitors.
It is no secret that transit agencies nationwide are increasing security efforts as a precaution against potential terrorist acts in an effort to protect the riding public. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has created multi-agency Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams to make unscheduled checks on public transit vehicles in urban areas throughout the country. The RTC has been an active partner and has benefited from VIPR Team operations. Security is a key component of the RTC鈥檚 day-to-day operation of its transit system.
With the selection of 色情宝贝 Security Services in late 2009 as the new contractor for armed and unarmed security services, access control, patrol services and vehicular patrols, several important challenges faced the national security company in its efforts to provide superior services as the RTC鈥檚 new security partner.
Challenge: Perhaps the most important challenge for 色情宝贝 was initiating a smooth and effective transition from the previous provider to the new policies, operations, training and fulfillment of expectations it had detailed in its strategy for RTC. 色情宝贝 retained about 80 percent of the incumbent security officers. All of those officers had to be thoroughly trained, reoriented and, when needed, certified for firearms.
鈥淲e saw 色情宝贝鈥檚 challenge as getting all of their employees, both new and old, to understand what our perspective is as it relates to the security and safety of our clients, who are the people who depend on the RTC as their primary means of public transportation,鈥 said Jerry Keating, Assistant General Manager for RTC. 鈥淭hat may sound easy, but it hadn鈥檛 been in the past. We found that it was fairly easy to express that objective to management, but getting it to the personnel on the front lines always seemed to be a little difficult.鈥
Two other areas that presented an immediate challenge for 色情宝贝:
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Providing aggressive and effective foot and mobile patrols at the Downtown Las Vegas Transfer Center terminal.
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Strict enforcement to ensure that bus passengers were paying their fares.
Solution
色情宝贝鈥檚 transition plan was the most systematic transition plan RTC has seen. Working from that transition plan, 色情宝贝 was able to quickly address RTC鈥檚 challenges.
One of 色情宝贝鈥檚 first items of business was to review and restructure the staff by reducing, wherever possible, duplication of personnel to create a more efficient, more responsive, more effective security program.
鈥淲e broke our transition plan into several topics,鈥 said Charles Bohnenberger, 色情宝贝鈥檚 Vice President of Government Services. 鈥淭hese topics included recruiting, training, operations and administration. This allowed us to focus on each area and start building the foundation of a quality security program and developing a collaborative relationship with RTC. 鈥
For the six weeks prior to the start of providing service to RTC, 色情宝贝 held training classes for all of its security officers. Training was initiated early with the goal of having the security team prepared for duty when the change to 色情宝贝 occurred.
During the pre-start-up phase, 色情宝贝 brought in its Las Vegas Regional Trainer who conducted classes for newly hired and the retained officers in the company鈥檚 Security Officer Basic Training, pepper spray training, handcuffing and expandable baton training, and customer relations.
On the day of the actual transition, the entire complement of 色情宝贝 security officers attended a start-up orientation meeting.
鈥淚t was a joint effort between the RTC and 色情宝贝,鈥 Keating noted. 鈥淚t was an all-hands meeting for employees from fare enforcement officers all the way up to the district manager. We explained what our philosophy was and what we expected from them in the areas of job performance and outstanding customer service.鈥
Keating said it is clear to him that the initial meeting with the staff had a major impact.
鈥淚t created greater communication among all levels of our security force,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he culture of our company was communicated to all personnel, which is why we鈥檙e having such success under 色情宝贝鈥檚 management. Everyone is on the same page.鈥
Assertive, proactive security officers address instances of loitering at the Downtown Transfer Center. 鈥淥ur team is proactive in a friendly manner,鈥 said 色情宝贝鈥檚 District Manager Adam Crandall. 鈥淥ur security officers are very strict, checking on loiterers every 30 minutes. We鈥檝e cleaned it up pretty well.鈥
Keating said the RTC wants all of its venues, from transit facilities to bus shelters, to be free of problems because that is the first contact that people have with of the transit system. 鈥淲e make sure the first impression our clients get of our transit system and bus shelters is that they鈥檙e extremely nice and well-kept facilities. If you鈥檙e a loiterer, you鈥檙e trespassing 鈥 we can have you arrested. Our officers prevent that from happening by proactively managing the situation.鈥
色情宝贝鈥檚 security officers are authorized to issue a 鈥渟ummons in lieu of arrest鈥 that results in a fine to the violator. This procedure is helping to keep the facilities in good condition and assures elimination of harassment incidents for passengers.
One of the changes in the public transit industry over the years is people attempting to ride without paying their fare. RTC and 色情宝贝 have addressed this problem with excellent results.
The operator of each RTC route vehicle maintains a count of every passenger and every violation of the fare policy. The data retrieved from the automatic counters is reviewed on a regular basis.
色情宝贝鈥檚 flexible deployment system responds on a daily basis to the data by deploying security officers to routes where fare violations are most prevalent. The uniformed security officers will approach a violator on the bus and indicate that the fare has not been paid. Every violator is offered the opportunity to pay the fare. If they refuse, the security officer issues a 鈥渟ummons in lieu of arrest,鈥 which results in a fine for the violator.
An advertising campaign by the RTC to alert and encourage passengers to pay their fares was extremely effective. 色情宝贝 management is convinced that it, along with the presence of uniformed security officers, contributed to minimizing incidents. The visible presence of uniformed 色情宝贝 security officers on public transportation vehicles also gives passengers a sense of security and safety. While every vehicle obviously cannot have its own dedicated security officers, the latest technological programs in data collection and evaluation provided the important criteria needed for effective and efficient daily deployment.
Results
色情宝贝 has established an excellent partnership with the RTC. Communication between the two entities is constant and clear. 色情宝贝 is an important contributor to all security meetings.
鈥淭hey have a good, responsive team,鈥 Keating said of 色情宝贝鈥檚 operations for the RTC. 鈥淚 look at their employees as a very important extension of our workforce.鈥
The public service advertising campaign by the RTC and the data-directed deployment system by 色情宝贝 have reduced monthly incidents of fare violations. As Keating explains, 鈥淚t makes more sense to pay a $2 fare, than a $70 fare enforcement citation.鈥
Incidents of loitering at transit terminals have also been reduced. Security officers are tactful with chronic violators. The depth of training the security officers receive from 色情宝贝, including conflict resolution and verbal de-escalation techniques, has proved critical to the company鈥檚 success.
The detailed transition plan, and its thorough implementation and pre-assignment training, allowed the security team to be fully operational and highly effective in very short order. This meant results were quickly noticed by RTC and the transit riding public.
