A new Metro policy to ban violent and sexual offenders from the system goes into effect on Monday.
Under the policy, anyone who commits a sex crime or a sex-related crime, violates Metro’s Passenger Conduct Rule or a person who commits any assault on a Metro employee, contractor or customer will be unable to enter or use Metro systems and properties for more than 24 hours, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. This includes spaces like trains, buses and parking lots.
Before the policy, the Metro Transit Police Department only had the power to ban someone for up to 24 hours if they violated conduct rules in Metro’s Tariff, which WMATA said includes “abusive, unacceptable, or unsafe conduct.”
Under the new policy, the amount of time an offender is banned for works in tiers:
- Forty-five days for a first offence
- Ninety days for a second offense
- One year for a third offence
Banned riders will have the ability to appeal the decision, WMATA said.
WMATA told News4 in March that when a rider is banned, their information will go into a database and their SmarTrip card will be deactivated.
While Metro employees won’t be scanning faces or checking IDs at stations, WMATA said they believe employees are already aware of passengers who cause trouble at stations and are ready to call police if they see someone trespassing.
