It's dangerous out there folks, be very careful

TriMet reports there were 79 physical assaults on its employees, contractors or transit police in 2021, up from 54 physical assaults in 2020. But those numbers only reflect incidents that meet the criminal definition of assault,

Besides assault, TriMet tallies incidents of harassment (such as spitting offenses), menacing, public indecency and vandalism, as well as verbal incidents, passengers throwing items and other not necessarily criminal behavior that is still disruptive.

TriMet recorded 649 such occurrences in 2020, up from 429 in 2019—a 51% increase. Bradley, the ATU officer, says the rise is not just attributable to COVID-19. ATU started noticing an uptick as early as 2017, he said.

In October 2020, when ridership had dropped to less than half the January numbers, TriMet reported more than double the number of security incidents

Unsafe streets: Deteriorating public safety is impacting workers on the job