What Readers Think About a Bill That Would Make Shoving a TriMet Employee a Felony

“I can tell you that operating the bus after being menaced or threatened puts hundreds of other lives at risk, but you wouldn’t believe me until you’ve sat in that seat yourself.”

MAX train in downtown Portland. (TriMet)
By WW Staff

Last week, WW wrote about a bill in the Oregon Legislature that would make merely shoving any TriMet employee a felony, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison ("Push Comes to Shove," WW, Feb. 27, 2019). Democrats in control of Salem are torn between reducing incarceration and supporting organized labor. Here's what readers had to say.

Thomas Palmer, via Facebook: "Does anyone who's against this actually know what it's like to be trapped in that operator seat, and opening the door to who-knows-what? It's not like the bus or MAX operators have another escape route.

"I can tell you that operating the bus after being menaced or threatened puts hundreds of other lives at risk, but you wouldn't believe me until you've sat in that seat yourself."

Daniel Patrick Johnson, via Facebook: "Sounds like an easy way to put someone in jail for a reflex reaction to being touched. Kinda like the 'resisting arrest' by people already in handcuffs, sitting on the ground."

Lisa Campos, via Facebook: "You should never push TriMet employees! When they are driving, we are placing our lives in their hands."

Terri Rothfusz, via Facebook: "Sounds more like an excuse to jail the homeless and mentally ill to me."

Debra Stewart, via Facebook: "Assault should be taken seriously, especially on someone in charge of every passenger's safety."

Trisha Crabb, via wweek.com: "This one is a thorny area. I am a union supporter and I work in health care where I believe public employees deserve protection while doing risky and dangerous jobs that leave them vulnerable.

"I also believe whenever we do add automatic penalties in criminal justice, we automatically build in bias and unequal consequences for the most marginalized people in our society. There needs to be an answer that both protects workers and holds offenders accountable without causing deliberate harm on either side of the process."

Wufpdx15, via wweek.com: "Seems like a reasonable law adjustment, given the risks that these TriMet employees face given passengers they often deal with."

Rhiannon Orizaga, via Twitter: "Are you suggesting assaulting a TriMet employee shouldn't be a crime? Or just that it shouldn't be a big deal if it is?"

Jon Pope, via Facebook: "Five years is a bit long for pushing someone."

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