RTD's Transit Police Department Detective Bureau is now fully operational

DENVER — As of Wednesday, the RTD's Transit Police Department Detective Bureau is fully operational and ready to begin investigating and prosecuting cases as they arise.

The police department, abbreviated as RTD-PD, announced the official launch on Wednesday morning. Detectives within the bureau will investigate crimes that happen on RTD property across the many jurisdictions that the buses and trains travel through. This can include theft, trespassing, fraud and forgery, public peace and order crimes, firearm crimes, weapon violations and controlled substance offenses.

It's part of RTD's overarching plan to reduce crime, which has also included leaving elevator doors open at stations, providing safety shields for drivers, and installing live cameras inside buses.

Denver7 spoke with RTD's Chief of Police Steve Martingano on Wednesday about the launch of the bureau.

Denver7

"It's a one-stop shop, in theory, for someone that may be a victim of crime within our properties, as opposed to saying, 'Hey, you need to go to Denver for that. You need to go to Aurora for that.' They will all come to us now," Martingano said.

Martingano said a lot went into the launch of the bureau, from creating an evidence room to having detectives meet with district attorneys across the Denver metro area to ensure procedures align with each jurisdiction's requirements.

"As of today's date, we're ready to start filing our own cases," he said.

Denver7 shared the news of this bureau in January, and in March, anchor Shannon Ogden reported on new details Denver7 had obtained about it. At the time, RTD said it hoped to have the bureau up and running by May; however, it was delayed.

• Watch Shannon Ogden's report from March below.

RTD trains and buses travel about 2,400 square miles through eight counties and 40 municipal districts.

Previously, when a crime occurred on one of the trains or buses, the law enforcement agency whose jurisdiction the crime occurred in was required to investigate it. With the opening of the RTD-PD's detective bureau, those crimes can now be investigated by RTD instead of using other departments' resources.

"This is happening on our property; we should be taking responsibility of it," Martingano said.

In January, RTD promoted Transit Police Officer Fabian Rodriguez to detective lieutenant, and he is now the head of the detective bureau unit. Transit Police Officer Brian Beary was promoted to detective.

The third detective, Craig Tangeman, joined RTD-PD on Jan. 21. RTD said on Wednesday that it had hired three additional detectives, including Victim’s Advocate Program Specialist Julie McKinster.

Denver7 talked with Sherri Deshay, who rides the light rail almost daily. She hopes the new detective bureau will mean more cases get proper attention.

"I've done reporting through the app, and I've never really heard back on some of those," she said.

Other riders told Denver7 they're optimistic that handling cases in-house will lead to more accountability and safer rides ahead.

"If they stick to it as much as checking tickets, you know, then I think they can deal with the job," said Russell Chesshire, a regular RTD rider.

---