these small "police agencies" are a nice way to get equipment and toys otherwise unaccessible to the general public. a common loophole if you can afford it. of course, with all the deep black going around (*cough cough*) who knows? :P this entity looks a little odd, to put it mildly... (and who is Connie Wong?) San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 02/09/2006 - 02/23/2006 Address: 4115 E Live Oak Ave Arcadia, CA 91006-5865 Phone: (626) 254-0471 San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 01/31/2006 - 02/23/2006 Address: 4115 E Live Oak Ave Arcadia, CA 91006-5865 Phone: (626) 446-1753 San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 12/22/2005 - Current Address: Address not listed Phone: (626) 303-3505 San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 05/19/2005 - 12/21/2005 Address: 148 E Lemon Ave Monrovia, CA 91016-2808 Phone: (626) 303-3505 Monrovia Transit Authority Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 12/22/2005 - Current Address: Address not listed Phone: (626) 303-3505 Monrovia Transit Authority Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 12/01/2004 - 04/05/2005 Address: 148 E Lemon Ave Monrovia, CA 91016-2808 Phone: (626) 303-3505 Monrovia Transit Authority Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 04/25/2005 - 12/21/2005 Address: 148 E Lemon Ave Monrovia, CA 91016-2808 Phone: (626) 303-3505 S G V T P D Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 02/22/2006 - Current Address: 4115 E Live Oak Ave Arcadia, CA 91006-5865 Phone: (626) 446-1753 S G V T P D Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 02/22/2006 - Current Address: 4115 E Live Oak Ave Arcadia, CA 91006-5865 Phone: (626) 254-0471 San Gabriel Valley Transit Police Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 12/22/2005 - Current Address: Address not listed Phone: (626) 303-3505 San Gabriel Valley Transit Police Listing Type: Business Listing Date: 05/19/2005 - 12/21/2005 Address: 148 E Lemon Ave Monrovia, CA 91016-2808 Phone: (626) 303-3505 additional pointers welcome... On 3/3/06, R. A. Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com> wrote:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ferrari3mar03,1,3377111,print.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

... Ferrari Case Takes New Twist With Possible Tie to Bus Agency

The trail leads to a nonprofit operating out of a Monrovia repair shop. More puzzling is its police force and 'anti-terrorism' unit. ... The car's owner, a former video game executive from Sweden, told Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies at the scene of the Feb. 21 accident in Malibu that he was deputy commissioner of the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority's police anti-terrorism unit, detectives said Thursday. ... They are also looking into the transit organization to see what connection, if any, it has to the case. Brooks said detectives believe the two men from "homeland security" received their badges from the transit authority. ... Just as murky is Eriksson's connection to the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority.

The organization is a privately run nonprofit that has agreements with Monrovia and Sierra Madre to provide bus rides for disabled residents.

On its website, the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority lists its address as 148 E. Lemon Ave. in Monrovia. The location is Homer's Auto Service, an auto repair shop.

A transit authority bus was parked in one of its driveways, but nothing on the storefront indicated it was a headquarters for the agency. Inside, a young woman, who declined to give her name, said she was a dispatcher for the transit authority. She telephoned someone she said was an agency official, who declined to be interviewed.

According to the website, the organization also has its own police department with a chief, detectives and marked police cruisers. Sheriff's investigators said Eriksson told deputies that he was deputy commissioner of the department's anti-terrorism unit. ... Officials in cities where the agency does business said they didn't know why a small transit authority needs a police department. ... But Deal said some specialized departments are not members, and there are provisions in state public utilities law that allow for transit police agencies to be run by private transit providers.