Following the stabbing death of King County Metro bus operator Shawn Yim, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 gathered to announce the formation of the Transit Safety and Security Task Force.

On March 7, union president Greg Woodfill announced that the union’s pleas for a King County-wide transit and public safety task force would come to fruition after Yim was stabbed to death while working on the morning of Dec. 18, 2024.

The first meeting will be 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m March 20 at the Machinist District, 751 Seattle Union Hall, 9125 15th Place South.

Woodfill said the public cannot thrive without public transit, but the billions of dollars citizens of the region have invested in transit are at risk if passengers don’t feel safe to ride public transit and transit workers don’t feel safe at work. Woodfill said the public needs to hold them accountable for improving public and transit safety, but Metro and local cities hold responsibility, too.

“King County Metro and Sound Transit are all 100% responsible for the safety of their transit employees, and our union will hold them accountable for that as they would expect us to do,” Woodfill said. “But our union will also always fight for the safety of our passengers and their right to be safe on public transit. And the cities of King County bear some responsibility for their citizens’ safety while using public transit in their cities.”

Woodfill said King County’s transit policing model is built around a smaller transit police force, which is then supported by the police forces of local communities with transit service. Woodfill said cities need to fill in the gaps and have a seat at the table.

Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell said having the Federal Way Police Department ready to go in the case of a public transit safety issue is one way he plans to have the city help out. Ferrell said it’s the responsibility of the FWPD to be responsive and respond as quickly as possible if a crime occurs on a bus or at the transit center.

“What we need to do is make sure that there’s clear communication with [Valley Communications] and understanding with our police force that when something happens on a Metro or Sound Transit bus, that we’ve got this, that we’ve got systems in place to make sure that we respond and get there,” Ferrell said.

Ferrell added that it makes sense that if there’s something like a fight on the bus, or someone is using drugs at the transit center, the local police need to be helpful and responsive. Ferrell said they’re already responding when incidents occur, but he wants to make sure there are clear lines of communication and that expectations are met with actions.

“While there may be expectations, we want to make sure and dig into exactly what the expectations are and make sure that we follow through with those,” Ferrell said. “So it’s a commitment on our part.”

Ferrell said he and FWPD Chief Andy Hwang became members of the new task force, so he plans to attend meetings, give his honest feedback, and follow through on any commitments that are made in the task force. Ferrell said he wants to have his voice out there as an elected leader in South King County and give his input, knowledge and experience, especially as a former daily rider and with his experience as a prosecutor.

Ferrell said public transit safety will become even more important with the light rail coming to Federal Way. With the light rail, Ferrell said more residents than ever will rely on public transit.