Metro asks DC for authority to demand ID from fare evaders

WASHINGTON (7News) — Metro’s Transit Police Department chief and general manager both said Thursday they hope the D.C. Council will give them an authority they currently don’t have --– requiring people in D.C. caught fare evading to give a legitimate ID.

“I think as the general manager says, ‘not everybody that fare evades is a criminal, but all criminals fare evade,’” Metro Transit Police Department chief Michael Anzallo told Metro’s Board of Directors at a committee meeting Thursday.

Anzallo told Metro’s board that 99.5% of the time, someone commits a “part one crime” –-- which includes the most serious offenses --– inside the rail system, they evaded the fare first.

Metro said through new, taller gates at Fort Totten that are set to be installed at nine more stations this summer and eventually throughout the entire system, plus through police enforcement, it is attempting to crack down on fare evasion.

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But Metro said although Virginia and Maryland officers can demand a legitimate ID when someone evades the fare, they don’t have that authority in D.C., and it leaves them without the ability to find out if the person in D.C. is a wanted criminal or not. The police chief said it’s common to find people with outstanding warrants after checking someone’s ID in Maryland and Virginia, but in D.C. people who fare evade often refuse to give an ID.

“We can consensually ask you to stop and consensually ask you for ID, but if you know the law, you can walk right past us and we can’t forcibly stop you,” Anzallo told Metro’s board Thursday.

“The police ask for identification, but someone, in theory, could say 'I’m Donald Duck,'” added Metro general manager Randy Clarke.

In 2018, the D.C. Council decriminalized fare evasion, making it an offense violators can get a ticket for, but no longer making it a crime.

“I don’t think we’re advocating to go back to [the] criminalization of fare evasion,” Clarke told Metro’s board Thursday, saying he just wants officers in D.C. to have the ability to know if a person has committed more serious offenses than fare evasion.

“If you have warrants we want to remove violent [people], and people that are trying to harm people, off the system,” Clarke said. “And if you don’t have any warrants, you’re going to get the regular civil citation and go about your day.”

“People that are wanted for warrants are going to stop coming on Metro because they know they’re actually going to get caught. Or they’re going to act respectfully and pay their fare on Metro and get off the system," Clarke added.

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7News reached out to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson’s office after Thursday’s Metro board meeting. A spokesperson said Clarke had not spoken to Mendelson about the issue yet.

Also Thursday, Metro’s police chief talked about a plan to vastly expand the number of private armed “special police officers” in the system. Currently, there are special police officers at 15 stations, with plans to get the number up to 25. Since earlier this year, Metro has also been paying officers from some local departments overtime to patrol rail stations on weekdays. Anzallo announced Thursday that within the next few weeks, Alexandria Police will join several other departments participating.

Also, Anzallo said a number of Metro Transit Police officers, including members of the SWAT team, have already received body cameras, with all 315 officers regularly on the streets expected to have them by Aug. 1.