Skip to content

IN THE PRESS: Metro hires San Francisco police chief Bill Scott to lead its public safety overhaul

05.08.25
Photo of Bill Scott and Daniel Lury. Photo: Daniel Lurie

By Kavish Harjai, LAist

Bill Scott, the outgoing chief of the San Francisco Police Department, will lead Los Angeles Metro’s new in-house public safety department, Metro announced Wednesday.

The announcement is the first major step towards Metro’s goal of reimagining public safety on its trains and buses.

“I’m really excited about the building blocks that we have here with someone of the caliber of Chief Scott to really be our leader in this,” Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins said to LAist in an exclusive interview the day before the announcement.

Scott’s experience overseeing safety on San Francisco’s Muni and deep roots in Los Angeles, where he served with the Police Department for 27 years, position him for the task that stands before him, Wiggins said.

Once he starts as chief of Metro’s public safety department in June, Scott will need to stitch together what is currently a splintered public safety apparatus without a central authority. He will have until 2029 to build and deploy a staff of nearly 1,100, including police officers and a growing corps of Metro ambassadors, and instill a cohesive culture centering “community-oriented” safety solutions.

“This is the first big milestone of setting up the department,” Wiggins said.

Read the full article on LAist's website