Police to take on Railway Security Role - Attempt 2

[cartman]

The policing issue or lack of it will eventually come to a head, either forced onto the government by train crews/station staff or from the public, or maybe both. The media are already picking it up on their radar as an issue. The police are perceived as reactive, not proactive. Doesnt matter what logical economic arguments the government puts forward ... The perception is increasing that using the trains are seen as an increasing risk to one's safety.

[BerryV]

The positive aspect of having a dedicated railway police agency (as opposed to state police assigned to transit duties) is that all your primary duties relate to the railway or transit system, therefore you become a specialist in that field and are able to see and detect things that the ordinary police officer doesn't see because they are not aware of it.

I'm not sure how the new police transport command is different? Their primary duty is the railway and transit system so they become specialists in their field. They don't get given other duties, their role is solely patrolling transit systems. No different to the highway patrol, water police or forensic services - ie, they don't attend to calls outside of their scope of work.

The benefit is they also have access to all other police information and holdings, which means (at least in theory) they are far better equipped with information. They are also full police officers who can also exercise their powers off railway property, allowing them to take action on the entire transport system.

Scotty, Railway and the transit systems might be their "primary duty" as you call it however reality is FAR from what you think. Your comment "They don't get given other duties" is just not true. Like Rusty, I won't comment in any further posts but you can bet your socks that a transit crew WILL assist to other pri calls whenever possible. In particular, transit caged trucks are a VERY helping hand when all LAC caged trucks are at other jobs. Some transit crews have even turned up in a taxi after a PRI 1 job gets called and they are at a local railway station!, hear the call and jump in a cab to come and assist.......

[Scotty]

Scotty, Railway and the transit systems might be their "primary duty" as you call it however reality is FAR from what you think. Your comment "They don't get given other duties" is just not true. Like Rusty, I won't comment in any further posts but you can bet your socks that a transit crew WILL assist to other pri calls whenever possible. In particular, transit caged trucks are a VERY helping hand when all LAC caged trucks are at other jobs. Some transit crews have even turned up in a taxi after a PRI 1 job gets called and they are at a local railway station!, hear the call and jump in a cab to come and assist.......

I've no doubt what you say is true, but as you point out they assist other police at urgent jobs - this should be expected, but is different to being given other duties. Their core duties are still to patrol the transport systems.

The way I see it, it works both ways. The transport police may assist other police at jobs at times, but other police will also be able to immediately assist the transport police at times when they need assistance.

[Mike Alpha]

The policing issue or lack of it will eventually come to a head, either forced onto the government by train crews/station staff or from the public, or maybe both. The media are already picking it up on their radar as an issue. The police are perceived as reactive, not proactive. Doesnt matter what logical economic arguments the government puts forward ... The perception is increasing that using the trains are seen as an increasing risk to one's safety.

I hope it's not going take a king-hit death on a train to wake the government up.

Mike

[BerryV]

I've no doubt what you say is true, but as you point out they assist other police at urgent jobs - this should be expected, but is different to being given other duties. Their core duties are still to patrol the transport systems.

The way I see it, it works both ways. The transport police may assist other police at jobs at times, but other police will also be able to immediately assist the transport police at times when they need assistance.

So when they are spending hours away from their "core duties", they are effectively MIA from the railways

[Scotty]

So when they are spending hours away from their "core duties", they are effectively MIA from the railways

I'm pretty sure you will find they do all public transport now, not just railways. If you see them elsewhere they may very well still be doing what they are meant to be doing.

[cartman]

Scotty you need to hop off your bus (which you once said is the extent of your daily commute) and ride the train system around especially at night. You will quickly understand the problem. Police are not visible except to attend incidents, after the fact. You may see a few around central because they are using the terminal building there as their command office. The media were showing the cctv image of the poor blind girl about to be assaulted tonight on the news. Women in particular feel vunerable if is there is a perception virtually no security present. Cctv doesnt prevent crime, just merely records it for use as evidence after the fact. Mark my words this wont go away. People will ring the jones and the hadlees at 2gb and the media in general to demand action be taken by the police to lift their game patrolling the transport system.

[centralcoastscanman]

Scotty you need to hop off your bus (which you once said is the extent of your daily commute) and ride the train system around especially at night. You will quickly understand the problem. Police are not visible except to attend incidents, after the fact. You may see a few around central because they are using the terminal building there as their command office. The media were showing the cctv image of the poor blind girl about to be assaulted tonight on the news. Women in particular feel vunerable if is there is a perception virtually no security present. Cctv doesnt prevent crime, just merely records it for use as evidence after the fact. Mark my words this wont go away. People will ring the jones and the hadlees at 2gb and the media in general to demand action be taken by the police to lift their game patrolling the transport system.

Yep exactly Grant... i think bazza o fazza thinks you put enough cctv cameras around its going to scare the scum into not breaking the law, but half of the criminals wouldn't give two hoots whether they are caught on camera or not...

[rustynswrail]

Scotty you need to hop off your bus (which you once said is the extent of your daily commute) and ride the train system around especially at night. You will quickly understand the problem. Police are not visible except to attend incidents, after the fact. You may see a few around central because they are using the terminal building there as their command office. The media were showing the cctv image of the poor blind girl about to be assaulted tonight on the news. Women in particular feel vunerable if is there is a perception virtually no security present. Cctv doesnt prevent crime, just merely records it for use as evidence after the fact. Mark my words this wont go away. People will ring the jones and the hadlees at 2gb and the media in general to demand action be taken by the police to lift their game patrolling the transport system.

Yep exactly Grant... i think bazza o fazza thinks you put enough cctv cameras around its going to scare the scum into not breaking the law, but half of the criminals wouldn't give two hoots whether they are caught on camera or not...

Not to mention the sale of hoodies going through the roof.

R

[Bigfella237]

"Hoodies" should be banned full stop

Anyone seen wearing one should be detained on sight and interrogated 1970's style with a rubber hose and phone book, maybe that would teach them some respect for authority, nothing or nobody else ever has.

Andrew