SEATTLE — There are only 47 days until the first of Seattle’s World Cup matches.
Efforts to keep you safe on public transit during those matches are ramping up. Hundreds of King County Sheriff’s Office deputies will be watching the light rail lines on match days.
With 750,000 extra people in Seattle for the World Cup, Sound Transit Police Chief Scott Dery said those plans are years in the making.
“We are used to this, we are used to big crowds, we know how to make sure everybody is safe and stays orderly,” said the police chief.
With so many extra people, the light rail will likely be the fastest way to get around.
“We just want them to know it’s a safe way to travel,” Dery said.
To do that, KCSO will be all hands on deck.
“We’ll have over 100 more deputies working than we normally do; the sheriff’s office is giving us more deputies on game days,” Dery said.
KCSO Deputy Alex Thomas tells us that elevated presence will include deputies on foot patrol, bikes, and on trains.
“We are going to have a lot of presence downtown, mostly riding around the commercial district, near Stadium, and CID stations, trying to be as present and as visible as we can for all the folks coming to see the matches,” Thomas said.
They’re watching for people doing drugs, acting suspiciously, or committing violent crimes.
“We try to be visible as much as we can be on stations, on platforms, talking to people and employees, just letting them know it’s a safe way to travel,” added Thomas.
Those deputies say there doesn’t have to be a problem for you to flag them down; they are happy to help with directions or general city information as well.
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