Authorities beef up patrols on Metro rail system after attacks

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has increased the number of deputies patrolling Metro Rail in response to recent stabbings and the upcoming tenth anniversary of 9/11.

On Aug. 26, Gold Line passengers saw a man pull a knife and stab another passenger as a northbound train came into the Memorial Park station. A week earlier, a man was fatally stabbed on a Red Line train near Hollywood.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which provides security on the Metro Rail system, told the Pasadena Sun that such attacks are unusual.

The Gold Line stabbing "was the most serious incident that I can recall on the Pasadena section, and I’ve worked here for eight years," Sheriff's Cmdr. Patrick Jordan said. "Stabbings on the entire rail system are incredibly rare, and in the Pasadena section it’s even rarer."

Even so, Jordan said authorities planned to beef up patrols. He declined to release the number of additional deputies, citing security reasons.

“We are going into the anniversary of Sept. 11, and I don’t want to talk about the number of deputies,” he said.