BART Police

Reporting crime or suspicious activity on BART

• Call BART Police Dispatch: 510-464-7000
• Download the free BART Watch app available on the App Store and Google Play to make a report with your smart phone. 
• For non-emergency needs you can text BPD at 510-200-0992.

BART General Manager appoints Ed Alvarez as the new Chief of BART Police 

BART Affirms Commitment to Progressive Policing and Fighting Racism

BART leadership is taking steps to build upon more than a decade of reforms and continuous improvements to advance progressive and equitable policing and the commitment to fight racism.  Download a 2020 PDF factsheet of BART's commitment to progressive policing that highlights policy updates, reforms, expanded training, and new initiatives to bolster oversight and increase the number of unarmed civilian employees providing presence in the system. View our section on Reforms to Date.

The BART Police Department is Hiring!

The BART Police Department is now offering a $15,000 hiring bonus for laterals and academy graduates ($5,000 upon hire and $10,000 upon completion of the Field Training Program).

Check out our employment section.

BART PD is a progressive agency and has been on the forefront – and in some cases the model approach – to training in the areas of fair and impartial policing, bias-based policing, crisis intervention, cultural competence training, and de-escalation training.

The annual training provided to BART police officers exceeds the standards set by California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). POST requires 24 hours of advanced officer training every 24 months, and BART police officers are trained for a minimum of 24 hours every year.

In fact, BART PD was the first California agency to have POST-certified instructors for Fair and Impartial Policing training. BART PD proactively gave the training to its officers before it was required. POST recognized the training curriculum as best practice, and has since adopted the training with input from the Museum of Tolerance as statewide training for police officers.

All BART police officers undergo crisis intervention, community-oriented policing, and fair and impartial policing training. In addition, BART PD was one of the first police departments in the State of California to deploy body-worn cameras to all uniformed patrol officers.

Additionally, BART PD is participating with Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) as a pilot agency to develop de-escalation training to be used throughout the country.

BART Police Crime Data

There are three ways for you to access BART Police crime data.

BART PD is now sharing reports of Part 1 crimes with the website CrimeMapping.com.  The site processes crime data with an advanced mapping engine to show where crime has occurred within the BART system.  Users can search for crimes that have occurred at the stations they use or what has happened over a larger area.  The service is free and available to everyone. CrimeMapping.com is a component of BART PD’s Regional Anti-Terrorism Integrated Law Enforcement System (RAILS). 

BART PD offers a daily crime log email. Sign up now.

You can also download monthly reports from BART's police chief.  These reports contain various data about BPD including updated numbers on Part 1 crimes committed within the BART system.  You can look at the latest chief's reports here: https://www.bart.gov/about/police/reports. 

BART Police Ambassador Program

BART launched a pilot ambassador program in February of 2020 to increase the presence of uniformed personnel on trains to address customers’ concerns about safety and security. The BART Board voted unanimously in January 2020 to move forward with a six-month pilot program that included ten ambassadors.  Upon the successful completion of the pilot the BART Board in October 2020 approved continuing with the ambassador program on a permanent basis.

The unarmed ambassadors are recruited from the ranks of the BART Police Department’s Community Service Officers, non-sworn personnel who perform a variety of police services. The ambassadors received additional de-escalation and anti-bias training before the program launched.  The ambassadors wear easily identifiable uniforms distinct from those of Community Service Officers or Fare Inspectors. They are equipped with radios to report safety and security concerns or biohazards. The ambassadors are also trained to respond to customers’ questions, complaints or requests for service. They observe and report and call upon an officer when enforcement is needed.

BART Police Explorer Program

The BART PD Explorer Post 413 is currently recruiting young men and women from the ages of 14-20 to join the Explorer training program. The Explorer Program is a voluntary organization which helps the youth from the community to be trained by police officers in aspects of law enforcement, leadership, and community service. Explorers perform a wide variety of non-enforcement duties to assist BART PD. Explorers come from all communities in the East and West Bay and work in the Bay Area communities.

Participants may also recieve credit for schools which require community service hours for graduation.

For more information, please email [email protected] Download the Explorer Interest Card (tri-fold brochure).pdf

Vision, Mission and Core Values

Vision Statement

To be the leader in innovative policing, establishing BART as the safest transit system in the nation.

Mission Statement

The mission of the BART Police Department is to ensure a safe environment within our transit system, reduce crime through a highly visible police presence, and proactive enforcement of the law, and to promote public confidence by working in partnership with our stakeholders and the communities we serve.

Core Values

• Integrity

  We inspire trust and carry ourselves in a manner that demonstrates the highest levels of honesty, ethics, and moral conduct.

• Service

  Service Placing service above self, we work in partnership with the community serving with pride, courage, and compassion.

• Accountability

  We take ownership of our duties, remaining answerable to the public and accountable to the laws, rules, policies and procedures that govern and guide us.

• Professionalism

  We are committed to conduct and performance reflective of the highest standard of personal and organizational excellence.

• Diversity

  We acknowledge and embrace the diversity in our communities we serve and strive to ensure diversity is reflected in all levels of our organization.

BART's Social Resources Programs and Homelessness Action Plan

The national homelessness crisis can be visible in BART stations and on trains as unhoused individuals and destinationless riders use BART for shelter. Increasing rates of homelessness and related quality-of-life issues on BART present us with unique challenges as a transit system, and highlight a pressing need for action and understanding from us, our riders, and our partner agencies in the communities we serve.

We are developing a Strategic Homelessness Action Plan and we have a coordinated approach to connect homeless people who seek shelter in our system to services and resources.

Read more about our social resources efforts.