AAPI groups and business leaders ask Newsom to deploy CHP on BART

SAN FRANCISCO – The Bay Area Council, along with a coalition of more than 100 Asian American Pacific Islander groups and others, on Wednesday, formally asked California Governor Gavin Newsom to deploy California Highway Patrol across the BART system to address recent instances of violence. 

This comes after some recent high-profile instances of violence on or around the BART system. The Bay Area Council, comprised of a group of business leaders, issued a news release where they mentioned the unprovoked slashing attack on a BART train in San Francisco earlier this month that nearly killed an Asian American woman. They also referenced when a homeless man fatally shoved an Asian American woman in front of an oncoming BART train in San Francisco this past summer. 

The news release also comes on the same day police in San Francisco are searching for a suspect in a deadly stabbing near Embarcadero Station. 

“We need to take strong, decisive and immediate action that violent and other crime will not be tolerated on BART, particularly crime targeting Asian Americans, women, seniors and other vulnerable communities,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council.

In the Council’s letter to Gov. Newsom, they talk about a surge in verbal and physical violence since the COVID-19 pandemic that has particularly targeted Asian Americans. 

“Hate crimes against the AAPI community increased by 145 percent from 2019 to 2020 in our nation’s most populous cities, while San Francisco saw a more than 500 percent increase in 2021 as compared to 2020,” the letter read. They acknowledge that percentage has started to decline in more recent years. 

Wunderman said if Newsom were to take “bold and immediate action,” that public confidence in BART would be restored and ridership would increase. 

“Asians make up 25% of BART riders, making it a vital lifeline that must be safeguarded. Deploying more safety patrols is a critical short-term step to restore safety and trust while working toward lasting solutions,” said Mark Young, co-founder of Stand With Asians. 

According to polling by the Council, ridership suffers from concerns about safety. They acknowledge BART has made some staffing shifts of police and lauded the addition of new fare gates, but stressed that more needs to be done. 

They called on BART police to do more and said they are only deploying a fraction of its overall uniformed officers on the system. 

BART responded to this story with some crime statistics of their own, saying the overall crime rate is down 12% from the same time last year with violent crime down 6%. 

“BART would welcome the strategic deployment of the CHP in the areas around our stations. This will help keep problems out of BART,” said the transit agency’s spokesperson Jim Allison. “Through September, BART PD made more than 14,000 enforcement contacts, an increase of more than 5,000 contacts from the same period in 2023.”

We reached out to the governor’s office for comment. They said the state is not responsible for managing or governing BART’s operations or budget. 

“It’s run independently by an elected board of directors. However, the state has committed nearly $550 million to support BART this year, and over $400 million to fight hate crimes since the Governor took office,” said Tara Gallegos, the governor’s deputy director of communications. 

Gallegos clarified that the Board of Directors oversees BART’s budget and the BART Police Department is responsible for safety on BART. They suggested checking in with BART on their safety efforts. 

You can read the letter to Gov. Newsom below or find it here. 

KTVU’s Marison Cabrera contributed to this report.