Route Crime
Encyclopedia
Route crime was formerly known as trespass and vandalism. It is believed to be the cause of most deaths to members of the public on the railways in Britain. Many of the deliberate deaths are suicides with the rest being accidents attributed to trespass.
To tackle route crime, British Transport Police
works in partnership with Network Rail
, Train Operating Companies (TOCs), rail staff and the public.
Criminal damage and trespass on the railways
Acts which can be classified as route crime include:- People putting obstructions in front of trains
- Trespassing and vandalising the railway infrastructure – is a safety issue:
To tackle route crime, British Transport Police
British Transport Police
The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...
works in partnership with Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
, Train Operating Companies (TOCs), rail staff and the public.
Railway strategy
The Railway Industry in the UK has a strategy based on 4 Es- Enabling – having the organisation, finance and planning in place to make it happen
- Education - of children, opinion formers and the industry itself
- Engineering - solutions looking at crime prevention, boundaries, surveillance and more
- Enforcement - led by BTP, but enlisting support from the Crown Prosecution ServiceCrown Prosecution ServiceThe Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
(CPS), judiciary and local forces, and the use of CrimestoppersCrimestoppersCrime Stoppers or Crimestoppers is a program separate from the emergency telephone number system, that allows a member of the community to provide anonymous information about criminal activity. It thereby allows the person to provide crime solving assistance to the authorities without being...
.
Police action
British Transport Police delivers this through:- Education, Full-time Community Safety Officers work with rail drivers to take the safety message to young people
- Prevention, Specialist Crime Prevention Officers advise the railways on how to design out crime from stations and other facilities
- Deterrence, Targeting problem areas through crime pattern analysis, increasing uniformed patrols at vulnerable times and places
- Detection, Covert surveillance to catch offenders, again using crime pattern analysis so as not to waste valuable police time. Q TrainsBritish Transport PoliceThe British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...
are also used successfully by some BTP Areas. - Community, Various schemes are run in different localities, e.g. adopt-a-station
- Involvement, station watch, trackside revival schemes