BART Police Chief Alvarez to retire

Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Ed Alvarez will retire May 1 after serving the BART Police Department for more than 25 years, the San Francisco transit agency announced last week.

Deputy Police Chief Kevin Franklin, who leads the agency’s operations division, then will serve as interim chief, BART officials said in a press release.

Alvarez became chief in January 2020 after serving a nine-month stint as interim chief. Under his leadership, the police department has doubled the number of sworn officers — who have the ability to enforce applicable law and arrest others — on trains; launched an unarmed safety presence initiative on the network; and reached full staffing for crisis intervention specialists, BART officials said.

Franklin joined the BART Police Department in 1996. He has been deputy chief since August 2020.