Written by Francisco Ravelo on September 16, 2010 – 10:45 pm
Lately there has been some “interesting” law enforcement decision making going on in Portland and the tri-county area when it comes to riding Tri-Met. If you are riding Tri-Met without a fare and are confronted by fare inspectors or police officers, they have several ways of handling the situation. They could issue a verbal or written warning, they could issue a violation under the Tri-Met code and make you pay a fine, or they can actually decide to take a very aggressive approach and charge you with the crime of Theft of Services, ORS 164.125.
Believe it or not, many police officers are choosing the most extreme choice and charging Tri-Met riders who do not have proof of fare with the crime of theft of services. We are talking about a $2.30 fare! And this is not just one or two officers who have decided to charge this conduct as a crime. Hundreds of people in the Portland tri-county area have plead guilty to the crime of theft of services for not having proof of Tri-Met fare. I do not believe this is a fair and equitable result.
Personally, I have already had three jury trials on these type of cases where my clients have been charged with the crime of theft of services because they were riding Tri-Met without proof of fare. These are three specific cases in which the State was willing to spend the time and money in an attempt to get a conviction for theft, which would appear on their record and label them as a thief. Had the State simply charged my clients with the violation and imposed a money fine, they could have saved the money and time spent by the prosecutor, the police, the court staff, the judge and the jury. Instead, law enforcement decided (and is continuing to decide) to spend the money and take a full day of the court’s time to have a jury decide if people in this situation should have a theft on their record. (I should note that I have handled many of these types of cases and there have been times when the State has reduced the criminal charge of theft of services to a violation)
For what it is worth, in the three Oregon jury trials I have had with regard to this issue, the jury has twice found my clients not guilty and once found my client guilty. As you can see (and as silly as these cases may sound), these Tri-Met cases are a battle. I suspect as long as law enforcement in Oregon continues to take this very aggressive approach to riding Tri-Met without a fare, defense attorneys will continue to battle this charge in court.
If you or someone you know has been charged with theft of services from Tri-Met, they should consult with an attorney immediately.
Very interesting. OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon works to mobilize bus riders to have more of a voice in regional transit decisions to ensure that the bus system is prioritized. One issue we’ve come across is that TriMet has typically done a poor job of capturing fares on the MAX (whereby you cannot board a bus without paying your fare), thus exacerbating the inequitable investments in light rail extension projects versus basic bus service (i.e., bus riders pay “fair share”, whereby not all MAX riders do, yet massive investment in MAX threatens bus service and creates, in part, budget shortfalls that results in annual fare increases and service cuts).
What does this have to do with local prosecution of these instances as crimes of theft? TriMet is obviously exploring new ways to enforce MAX fare collection, likely hoping that the threat of criminal prosecution will deter future non-paying riders. Yet this raises serious concerns about the arbitrariness and possible profiling of local law enforcement in selective prosecution of these “crimes.” There has to be a more equitable and efficient way to ensure collection of MAX fares.