BART’s police department will soon vacate its Lake Merritt headquarters to make way for affordable housing and office space, so the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency is seeking a new location – and wants public input.
Last week, BART employees distributed surveys at 19th Street Station in Downtown Oakland. They wanted to find out where passengers thought the agency’s new police headquarters should be. But most people didn’t stop to chat. Sabrina Baptiste was one of a handful of BART employees who greeted riders at the station gates.
“Hi, there. Welcome in. We’re doing a survey for the new BART police station,” Baptiste said.
Abby Thorne-Lyman, BART’s Director of Real Estate and Property Development, was also present. She said that while rider feedback was important, it wasn’t the agency’s top concern in selecting a location.
“Cost is obviously going to be very important, but also the fit for the police,” Thorne-Lyman said. “They have very specific facilities needs.”
Thorne-Lyman also said that all three sites BART is considering for a new headquarters are adjacent to the 19th Street Station, and that if they were farther apart, community input might count for more.
As KALW reported earlier this summer, BART is strapped for cash. But James Allison, a spokesperson for the agency, said the cost of developing this new facility would not lead to service cuts. He explained that capital funds, rather than operating funds, would pay for the project.
Thorne-Lyman said rider safety was BART’s top priority, and that the agency would have to incur the expense for the new police station sooner or later.
“It's inevitable that in order to have that police force that we need, they need a better location,” she said.
Today, the public can offer input from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at BART's Oakland headquarters, located at 2150 Webster St. The survey is also available online.
James Allison said BART’s board of directors will meet in a closed session this fall to discuss which site they might choose. Redevelopment at the current BART police headquarters will not start until, quote, “next year at the earliest.”
