Photo Credit: Jada Haynes
The MARTA Police Department (MPD) are trying to make patrons feel safer by implementing the new Blow the Whistle campaign.
One component of campaign is the MARTA “See & Say” app, which is available to Android and iPhone users. Police escorts will walk MARTA riders to their destination and stand with them if they are feeling uncomfortable waiting at a station alone, according to a MARTA press release.
If the MARTA user lives within a five-mile radius from a station, would also drive you home, as stated in the press release.
Caitlin Burkhart, Georgia State student, said she is looking forward to the improvements.
“Having had a negative experience on MARTA involving an invasive stranger who made me fear for my safety, I am excited to hear about the new safety initiatives,” she said.
One night, around 10:30 p.m., a man approached Burkhart and repeatedly asked her to leave with him to smoke or drink. He eventually asked for her phone number, which she refused to give him.
MARTA’s official crime statistics report there were 64 counts of aggravated assault, 49 counts of robbery and 318 instances of larceny during fiscal year 2013-2014.
The Blow the Whistle campaign is designed to combat this, and to promote the campaign, officers are handing out whistles and informational pamphlets, according to the press release. Courtesy phones are still available and they offer free self-defense classes.
Alisa Jackson, MARTA’s manager of communications, said the MPD’s next free self-defense classes will be scheduled between now and Thanksgiving. When the locations and times are decided upon, they will be posted on MARTA’s website.
She also said there isn’t a “time frame” for when customers can call a police escort, and all services are also available to men.
Jackson said it’s important to keep in mind that it may take a few minutes for an officer to get from one station to another.
“[T]his is something that Chief Dunham has said – we want to be as on-call and as readily-available as possible…We certainly don’t want to strand anyone, but at the same time, [we’re] having to work within the resources we have available,” she said.
However, people with disabilities may have to wait a little longer for their conditions to change.
Jessica Blinkhorn, a longtime activist for handicap accessibility, publicly voiced her problems with MARTA Mobility.
Mobility is a service that transports customers with complications getting into, riding, or getting out of MARTA’s typical buses or rail services, as stated in MARTA’s official website.
Blinkhorn has been having issues with MARTA’s buses, but she said the company has not been accepting her requests to be put on the newer models.
“[MARTA Mobility] 4000 [buses] have a straight axle which causes the bus to bounce around. [With] the wheelchair that I have, the bounce is too much for my body…I get flung around. Same goes for anyone who doesn’t have muscle control,” Blinkhorn said.
Jackson said MARTA’s police cars aren’t equipped with the same safety measures as a Mobility van, but they are currently discussing ways to increase accessibility for handicapped patrons.
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