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British Transport Police

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The British Transport Police (BTP) is a special police force[1] empowered to police those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services.

Jurisdiction

As well as having natural jurisdiction of the system operated by Network Rail consequential to being a former part of British Railways, the BTP are also responsible for policing:

It is not responsible for policing the rest of the Tyne and Wear Metro or the Manchester Metrolink or any other railway with which it does not currently have a service agreement; it can act as a constabulary for a transport system in Great Britain with which it commences a service agreement. It does not police any heritage railways.

This amounts to c.10,000 miles of track and more than 3,000 railway stations and depots. There are more than 1 billion passenger journeys annually on the mainline alone.

Current establishment

The BTP has 2774 Police Officers, 258 Special Constables, 210 Police Community Support Officers, and 1204 police staff throughout England, Wales, and Scotland (2007). The Chief Constable is Ian Johnston CBE, QPM.

The force is divided into seven areas:

  • Wales and Western
  • Scotland
  • North East
  • North West
  • London North
  • London South
  • London Underground

Despite the BTP's appearance on national television in Railcops[2]it does not have a prominent profile but it is larger than, inter alia, the following Territorial Forces:

History

Foundation

The first railway employees described as "police" can be traced back to 30th June 1826: A Regulation of the Stockton and Darlington Railway refers to the police establishment of "One Superintendent, four officers and numerous gate-keepers". This is the first mention of Railway Police anywhere and was three years before the Metropolitan Police Act was passed. They were not, however, described as "constables" and the description may refer to men controlling the trains not enforcing the law. Specific reference to "constables" rather than mere "policemen" is made by the BTP website article A History of Policing the Railwaywhich states "The London, Birmingham and Liverpool Railway Companion of 1838 reports 'Each Constable, besides being in the employ of the company, is sworn as a County Constable". Further reference is made by the BTP in the page "The Scottish Railway Police"to "an Act of 1838 ... which according to J.R. WHITBREAD in 'The Railway Policeman' (Harrap, 1961) was the first legislation to provide for any form of policing of the railway whilst under construction, i.e. to protect the public from the navvies more or less." .

The modern British Transport Police was formed by the British Transport Commission Act 1949 [3] which combined the already-existing police forces inherited from the pre-nationalisation railways by British Railways, those forces having been previously formed by powers available under Common Law to parishes, landowners and other bodies to appoint constables to patrol land and/or property under their control. This is distinct from the establishment of a police force by statute, as applicable to the Metropolitan Police in 1829; the BTP did not have jurisdiction on a statutory basis until the passing of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003[4].

"Policeman" v. "Constable"

Some early 19th century references to "railway police" or "policemen" do not concern constables but instead describe the men responsible for the signalling and control of the movement of trains (it is still common colloquial practice within railway staff for their modern equivalents in signal boxes and signalling centres to be called "Bobbies"). These personnel carried out their duties mostly in the open beside the track and were often dressed in a similar manner (e.g. a top hat and frock coat) to early police constables but were not directly concerned with law enforcement. Historical references (including those originating from the BTP itself) to when the first group of true "constables" was organised to patrol a railway should be treated with caution. This warning is repeated by the Metropolitan Police (MP) in their Metropolitan Police Records of Service web page dealing with MP records of service which on the matter of records of other forces held by the Public Record Office (now the National Archives) states :- The occasional references to 'Police Department' in the railway staff records relate to signalmen, etc

A huge workforce was required to build the ever expanding railway system. These armies of rough workers brought fear into rural Victorian England. The Special Constables Act 1838 was passed which required Railway and other companies to bear the cost of constables keeping the peace near construction works.

Historical crime

The continually expanding network of railways gave criminals new opportunities to move around the country and commit crime. The railways were pioneers of the electric telegraph and its use often involved the arrest of criminals arriving or departing by train. On 1 January 1845 a Railway Police Sergeant became the first person to arrest a murderer following the use of an electric telegraph. In 1838 the Royal Mail was conveyed by rail for the first time. The first mail thefts were reported shortly afterwards. In 1848 the Eastern Counties Railway lost 76 pieces of luggage in just one day, and by the following year thefts from the largest six railways amounted to over £100,000 a year. The first railway murder was committed by a German, who robbed and killed a fellow passenger on a train in North London in 1864. The first arrest abroad by the British Police was made in 1874 when a Metropolitan Police Inspector accompanied by a Railway Police Inspector went to the United States to arrest an embezzler.

Reorganisation

From 1900 several railway companies re-organised their police forces. The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway virtually reformed their police force from scratch in that year, followed by the Great Eastern, the North Eastern and Midland in 1910, Caledonian in 1917 and lastly the Great Western in 1918.

Inter-war years

The Railways Act 1921 amalgamated over one hundred separate railway systems (of which about 20 had organised police forces) into four groups:-

Each had its own police force controlled by a Chief of Police. These four forces were organised in the same way; each split into a number of Divisions headed by a Superintendent, divided into a number of Divisions Posts led by an Inspector. Detectives worked with their uniformed colleagues at most locations. Many ' non-police' duties were retained however, with officers acting as crossing keepers or locking and sealing wagons.

World War II

During the war the strength of the Railway Police doubled. With many men conscripted, Special Constables and Women Police were again employed.

Post war

In 1947 the Transport Act created the British Transport Commission which unified the railway system. On 1st January 1949 the British Transport Commission Police were created, formed from the four old railway police forces, canal police and several minor dock forces. In 1957 the Maxwell-Johnson enquiry found that policing requirements for the railway could not be met by civil forces and that it was essential that a specialist police force be retained. In 1984 London Buses decided not to use the British Transport Police. The British Transport Docks Board followed in 1985.

The force played a central role in the response to the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Three of the incidents were at London Underground stations: Edgware Road (Circle Line), Russell Square and Aldgate stations.
On 15th July 2006, a Dog Section Training School was opened at the Force Training establishment near Tadworth, Surrey.

How the BTP is funded

The British Transport Police is largely funded by the train operating companies, Network Rail, and the London Underground - part of Transport for London.[5] Other operators with whom the BTP has a service agreement also contribute appropriately. This funding arrangement does not give the companies power to set objectives for the BTP but there are industry representatives serving as members of the police authority [6]. The police authority does, of course, decide objectives. The industry membership represent 5 out of 13 members.

The police authority has agreed its budget for 2007/08 at £187.8M – a 9.9% rise[7].

Attestation

See also: Police Oath

Constables of the BTP are required by s.24 of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 to make one of the the following attestations depending on the country in which they have been appointed:-

in England and Wales

I, ... ... ... of ... ... ... do solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that I will well and truly serve Our Sovereign Lady the Queen in the office of constable, without favour or affection, malice or ill will; and that I will to the best of my power cause the peace to be kept and preserved, and prevent all offences against the persons and properties of Her Majesty's subjects; and that while I continue to hold the said office I will to the best of my skill and knowledge discharge all the duties thereof faithfully according to law.

Police Act 1996, Schedule 4

The attestation can be made in Welsh.

in Scotland

Constables are required to take the oath referred to (but not defined) in s.16 Police (Scotland) Act 1967. which is in simpler form merely declaring faithfully to execute the duties of his office.[8]

Communications and control rooms

A BTP officer patrolling the London Underground

The BTP operates five control rooms across England, Wales and Scotland with the largest control room being the MICC or Management Information & Communications Centre in London. The MICC are responsible for the Greater London area (including the London Underground and Mainline) and the home counties. The other four control rooms are in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester & Glasgow.


In 2008 the number of Control Rooms will be reduced to just two. They are likely to be based in Birmingham & London.

Powers and status of officers

British Transport Police officers are constables with the same powers as constables of territorial police forces when on railway property. They can also exercise their powers throughout England, Wales and Scotland if on railway business. They need however to move between railway sites and often have a presence in city centres. Consequently, BTP officers are called upon to intervene in incidents outside their natural jurisdiction. ACPO estimate that some such 8,000 incidents occur every year. In these circumstances, BTP officers only have a limited, conditional powers to intervene and the assistance of the local Territorial force would be sought. A Territorial Force can request BTP assistance in which case the BTP officer will - for the purposes of the investigation or operation only - have the same powers and privileges as constables of the requesting force [9] [10]

BTP uniforms are similar and the rank system identical to other British police forces. Officers often wear distinctive black jerseys with a black and white chequered pattern on the yoke; officers in Scotland have adopted the same uniform as the Scottish forces.

A BTP constable does not lose the ability to exercise his powers when off duty except for those functions which require the wearing of a uniform.

On 1 July 2004 a Police Authority for the British Transport Police was created.[11] BTP Officers became employees of the Police Authority, prior to that, they were employees of the Strategic Rail Authority.

Accident investigation

A British Transport Police motorcycle in London

Until the 1990s the principal investigators of railway accidents were the Inspecting Officers of HM Railway Inspectorate, and BTP involvement was minimal. With major accidents after the 1988 Clapham Junction rail crash being investigated by more adversarial public inquiries, the BTP took on a more proactive role in crash investigations, treating crash sites as "scenes of crime" and keeping professional railway investigators away from the scene until the BTP had finished its investigations, often days later. This was controversial in the rail industry as it severely delayed the resumption of rail services and the BTP were viewed as inexpert investigators of crash sites - a view strengthened after the Southall rail crash of 1997 when a significant piece of wreckage was discovered in the track ballast after BTP had handed the investigation back to HMRI.[citation needed] The BTP's want of expertise was further revealed following a low-speed train derailment near Glasgow; it was caused by track spreading in unusually hot weather, but the BTP made an operational decision to treat the accident as a scene of crime and delayed hundreds of passengers while statements were taken. Pressure from within the industry caused the setting-up of the Department for Transport's Rail Accident Investigation Branch to take the lead role in investigations.

Crime on the railway

Operation Shield is an initiative by BTP to reduce the number of knives carried by passengers on the train network. This initiative came about after knife crime began to rise and also because of the murder of a passenger on a Virgin Trains service travelling from Glasgow [12]

Route crime

BTP Preston (Vauxhall Astra)

Route Crime[13] was formerly know as trespass and vandalism. It is a minor but significant cause of death on British railways. The overwhelming majority - 95% in 2005 [14] - of deaths are suicides with the rest being attributed to trespass. [15]

Graffiti costs rail firms over £5m a year in direct costs alone [16] The BTP maintains a graffiti database which holds over 1900 graffiti tags, each unique to an individual vandal. in 2005 BTP sent 569 suspects to court (an increase of 16% on 2004 figures). Surveys show that fear of crime is exacerbated by graffiti[17]

The BTP deals with hundreds of instances of theft each day including stolen property and the theft of metals such as copper from railway safety equipment[18] In the North West Area BTP has joined forces with Lancashire Constabulary and Network Rail to combat thefts of metals from railway lines in an initiative called Operation Tremor. Wales & Western Area have a similar initiative - Op Drum.

It is estimated that[19]:

  • 17 million offences of criminal trespass on the railways are committed annually by adults
  • 10 million offences of criminal trespass on the railways committed annually by children

Performance

BTP is unique in that it achieved all it's operational targets for the last reporting period [20]:

Special Constabulary

British Transport Police first recruited Special Constables in a trial based in the North West Area in 1995, and this was expanded to the whole of England, Wales and Scotland.

Many Specials are recruited from the wider Railway Community and those working for Train Operating Companies are encouraged by their employers.

Under the terms of the Railway and Transport Safety Act 2003 and the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, BTP special constables have identical jurisdiction and powers to BTP regular constables; primary jurisdiction on any railway in Great Britain and a conditional jurisdiction in any other police force area.

Proposed merger

Although the British Transport Police is not under the control of the Home Office, and as such was not included as part of the proposed mergers of the Home Office forces of England and Wales in early 2006, both Ken Livingstone and Sir Ian Blair have stated publicly that they want a single police force in Greater London. As part of this, they wish to have the functions of the BTP within Greater London absorbed by the Metropolitan Police. However, following a review of the BTP by the Department for Transport, no changes to the form and function of the force will be implemented, and any merger will not happen [1].

See also

References

  1. ^ s.3(5) Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
  2. ^ Production Company for Railcops
  3. ^ reference in s.1 Transport Police (Jurisdiction) Act 1994
  4. ^ Explanatory Notes to Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 - Background - paragraph 59
  5. ^ British Transport Police Annual Report 2004/2005 (PDF). p. 8. Retrieved 2006-04-11.
  6. ^ http://www.bt-police.co.uk/AboutUs.asp Police Authority
  7. ^ http://www.bt-police.co.uk/NewsItem.asp?ID=5 Police Authority announcement
  8. ^ "The Scottish situation is unique as no oath is set out in legislation. The only requirement is that a declaration be made before a sheriff or Justice of the Peace in appropriate terms for the position of appointment." [Review of Oaths and Affirmations, New Zealand Ministry of Justice, May 2004]
  9. ^ s31 Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003
  10. ^ s100 Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001
  11. ^ s18 Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003
  12. ^ BBC News Website: Man quizzed over stabbing 28 May 06 (accessed 19 Mar 07)
  13. ^ Office of Rail Regulation (accessed 21/12/06
  14. ^ http://www.rssb.co.uk/pdf/reports/ASPR_Full_05.pdf
  15. ^ Route Crime, Railways Online (accessed 21/012/2006)
  16. ^ BTP: Issues, graffiti (accessed 19 Mar 07)
  17. ^ The Sharp End Issue 16 (published for the Home Office and sent to every Police officer, SC and Support Staff in England & Wales)
  18. ^ Railway thieves risk their lives. TrackOff
  19. ^ Route Crime, Railways Online (accessed 21/012/2006)
  20. ^ http://www.bt-police.co.uk/NewsItem.asp?ID=6 BTPA Announcement


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