Policing mass transit has two purposes: to enhance safety on the transit system and to reduce the fear of crime on transit systems. Addressing fear is a particular challenge due to movies, television, and selective news media coverage that often result in exaggerated fears about the safety of mass transit. The first step in enhancing public attitudes toward safety in mass transit is to develop reliable and practical standards to measure the success or failure of current and future security efforts. The police should thus use both objective measurements of crime, disorder, and ridership as well as subjective measures of riders' perceptions. The most important element of transit security is high-profile police patrol. Night patrol with active enforcement of solicitation laws are also crucial. Police managers should also work closely with school administrators to avert potential problems involving students who use mass transit to go to and from school. Special local ordinances and codes may need strengthening as well. Further components of transit security include special prosecution teams for offenses occurring on mass transit systems, effective environmental design and maintenance, and efforts to increase the perception that the transit system is part of the community and not merely something that moves through it. Photographs and reference notes