ACT-LA is an advocacy organization that strives to create equitable transit systems and neighborhoods in Los Angeles. In recent years, ACT-LA has campaigned on securing safety alternatives to armed policing on LA Metro’s buses and trains, and helped to win an unarmed transit ambassador program that launched in October 2022.

In this episode, I interview Scarlett De Leon, Campaigns Director at ACT-LA, to discuss her organization’s vision for creating community safety on transit. In 2021, the group released its “Metro as a Sanctuary” report that audited Metro’s policing contracts, and analyzed the racially disproportionate impact of over-policing in the system. ACT-LA’s report and subsequent pop-up activations demonstrated what care-based safety solutions that forefront rider dignity could look like.