L.A. riders bail on Metro trains amid 'horror' of deadly drug overdoses, crime

March 20, 2023

Jackson, foreground, prepares to smoke it himself on Feb. 28 at the MacArthur Park Metro station in Los Angeles. Story continuesTourists pass by the Metro Red Line Hollywood/Highland in 2020 in Hollywood. Metro security is staffed by multiple agencies, including the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and L.A. and Long Beach police departments, transit security guards and contract security workers. LAPD officers detain suspects outside the Red Line Metro subway at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles on Feb. 28. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported deaths linked to fentanyl rose from 109 in 2016 to 1,504 in 2021, amounting to a 1,280% increase.