Memorandum submitted by the British Transport
Police Strategic Development Department
INTRODUCTION
British Transport Police (BTP) is the dedicated,
specialist police force for the railways. It functions like other
police forces with similar units, however, the environment and
crime mix dealt with is unique. Policing a transient population
and undertaking major crime and other investigations presents
challenges. An intimate understanding of the physical complexities
of the rail environment is vital: its unseen dangers, how it operates,
and how the public behaves in these surroundings. The railway
network is made up of 10,000 miles of track, 2,500 stations and
there are over 2 billion passenger journeys per year across England,
Wales and Scotland. BTP polices inter-city, cross-country, suburban
and rural services, the London Underground, light rail (trams)
and international services through the Channel tunnel.
BTPs ongoing mission is to ensure that passengers,
rail staff, operators and infrastructure owners can all use the
railways free from crime and the fear of crime. BTP works within
the national policing context and the priorities set by the governments
and executives in Westminster, Edinburgh and Cardiff. The Force
makes an important contribution to national objectives, but, in
line with the strategic direction set by the Department for Transport,
is increasingly focusing on the specific needs of the rail system
and strengthening those partnerships. Neighbourhood Policing Teams
(NPTs) are deployed at local level, backed by a national, specialist
organisation that is a world leader in railway policing.
KNIFE AND
WEAPON ENABLED
CRIME ON
THE RAIL
NETWORK
The railways are not immune from national and
local trends in the communities they serve, and violent crime
continues to be a concern in 21st century Britain. The Governments
Community Safety Objective (PSA 23) Priority Action 1 is to reduce
the most serious violence. Passenger groups identify assaults
as an area that needs high prioritisation by this Force.[9]
Combating weapon enabled crime has two themes. Firstly the processing
of offender from weapon enabled offences (assault and robbery).
This follows standard practice for the investigation of volume
crime. The second strand is proactive policing and includes the
deployment of Operation SHIELD knife detection arches, and more
recently the improved use of Section 60 Criminal Justice and Public
Order Act 1994 searches at key locations. Recovery of weapons
as a result of these tactics continues to increase with a projected
2008-09 performance year increase of 33.1% (1228 incidents) for
BTP. Weapon enabled crime continues to decline across the Force
and is expected to fall by 12.1% (520 offences) by the end of
the Force performance year.
Youth disorder continues to be of concern to
the public, fuelled in part by the high profile persistent youth
offending receives in the media. Future challenges for policing
surround high visibility offending (such as underage binge drinking
in public), anti-social behaviour and high harm/profile offending
such as gang-related violence with the use of knives and guns.
The Mayor of London, has agreed to provide funding for 50 extra
BTP officers to help tackle these crimes.
High profile fatal stabbings, particularly in
Greater London have raised public awareness of the UK's growing
knife culture. On 4 July 2008 the Metropolitan Police Service
(MPS) Deputy Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson has said that knife
crime is now the number one priority for the MPS. BTP, utilising
Operation SHIELD, is working in conjunction with the MPS under
Operation Blunt 2, to undertake stop-and-search operations across
the capital.
From February 2006, with the inception of Operation
SHIELD, until October 2007, the incidents of "knife enabled
crime" showed a steady decrease (Appendix A). Since this
time the Force has experienced a general upward trend, peaking
in May 2008 with 172 offences. The widespread roll-out of new
Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPT), and the development of existing
NPT resources over the last 12 months, focussing on anti-social
behaviour and low level crimes affecting the local community,
has had an impact on detecting this type of crime. The impact
of NPT's has been to increase detected crime in the short term,
with a longer term reduction.
BTP Chief Constable, Ian Johnston, and the Director
of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken MacDonald, signed a National Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) covering England and Wales on knife crime
in May 2008. The MOU commits the BTP to exercising a "positive
arrest policy where people are found with knives or bladed instruments
without lawful excuse".
Violent assaults perpetrated by youths has steadily
declined since April 2006, with youths aged between 15-18 years
comprising the bulk of offenders, with BTP London Areas incurring
the highest incidence of youth crime suspects Force wide. The
Operation SHIELD deployments have identified an increase in the
number of youths carrying knives for self protection. Anti-social
behaviour or "unwanted behaviour" by youths is predominant
crime concern expressed by passengers and train operating companies
(TOCs). The majority of offences are carried out by youths (predominantly
male youths between the ages of 14-18) at the end of the school
day (1,400 hours onwards). This type of behaviour leads to high
perceptions of fear of intimidation from staff and passengers,
increases passenger dissatisfaction and drives verbal abuse and
physical assaults against staff and passengers.
Overall, Forcewide notifiable offences look
set to rise this performance year, mainly through increases in
drug offences and attempted theft from ticket machines. The drug
offences are entirely the product of increased search as a by-product
of the proactive policing attack on knife crime and anti-social
behaviour.
While there is an emphasis on the deployment
and use of search arches, this is by no means the only tactic
used by BTP in the reduction and detection of weapon enabled crime
on the railway network. Increased levels of funding achieved by
the BTPA since July 2004 has seen the number of BTP officers increase
by 25% and the arrival of over 260 police community support officers
(PCSOs). This increase in resources has enabled the introduction
of high visibility policing NPT's at identified hotspots across
the network which, initial evaluation has shown, has proved successful
in reducing all types of crime and anti-social behaviour, providing
more reassurance to the rail community.
Recent developments in CCTV have proved invaluable
to BTP in relation to achieving successful convictions of offenders.
The ability to publish good quality images from incidents on trains
and platforms is proving vital in identifying and bringing offenders
to justice. BTP is currently working nationally with the rail
industry to drive forward national minimum standards for CCTV
equipment installed on trains and across the network to ensure
that maximum benefit is gained from investment into new digital
systems.
Behavioural Assessment Screening System (BASS)
training is one of the more recent initiatives being rolled out
in BTP. BASS is a system whereby officers are trained to identify
suspects through indicators such as behaviours, body language,
expressions and signs of deception, amongst other things which
may indicate involvement in terrorism or other criminality. This
is important as more knives are recovered as a result of observing
the behaviour of people who approach the knife arches, than through
those who actually pass through the arches and are scanned with
metal detectors.
OPERATION SHIELD
Following the high profile murder of 31-year-old
lawyer, Thomas Rhys Pryce in Willesden, London on Thursday 12
January 2006, BTP carried out a profile of knifepoint robberies
to ascertain the seriousness of knife-related violence in the
London area. The result was a detailed analysis of robberies across
London in which offenders used a knife in order to hurt, intimidate
and threaten their victims between 1 July 2005 and 31 December
2005. The analysis identified that knifepoint robberies peaked
mid-week on a Wednesday and Thursday and that peak times for offending
was between 1500 and 1659 hours as well as between 2100 and 0059
hours. 75.5% of offenders committing robberies at knifepoint were
aged between 13 and 25, with the peak age being between 16 and
21 years.
Operation SHIELD was set up in January 2006
to tackle the knife carrying culture identified on the rail transport
network. Walk through metal detectors (WTMD) were deployed at
train stations across London over eight weeks which were identified
through intelligence as hotspots for knifepoint offending. The
aim of the Operation was set out as:
— to identify and apprehend offenders
carrying offensive weapons on the rail network;
— to reduce knife-related offending
on the rail network in London; and
— to reassure commuters using the rail
network in London.
Deployments were staffed by BTP officers, with
assistance from the City of London Police (CoLP), Revenue Protection
Inspectors (RPI) from TOCs and specialist drugs dogs. Hand held
metal detecting scanners were also deployed for use by officers.
During the eight week period 9,643 persons passed
through the WTMDs and 1,148 persons were stopped. 105 persons
were arrested which represents 9% of all persons stopped and 1%
of all persons who passed through the WTMD. Just over half (51%)
were arrested for possessing offensive weapons or bladed articles
including knives, samurai swords, truncheons, hammers and CS Gas
Canisters. An additional 15% (16 persons) were arrested for drug
related offences and 11% for theft. The remaining 23% were arrested
for being wanted on warrant, fare evasion, going equipped, handling,
possession of stolen property, possessing prohibited articles,
public order offences, non-payment of fines, immigration or robbery.
287 persons who were stopped had initially turned
away from the WTMD or evaded police and 23 of these were arrested—11
of these were arrested for possessing a weapon. 5% of all persons
stopped did not have a ticket for travel.
Following the success of this original Operation,
BTP procured and deployed knife arches across all of its geographic
policing areas and Operation SHIELD is now mainstreamed as an
effective tool in BTP's strategy for tackling knife and weapon
enabled crime on the rail network. A more recent example of its
effective use was the 2008 Notting Hill Carnival where over 750
BTP officers were deployed each day. The policing operation focused
not only the carnival, but sought to deter and disrupt potential
gangs and trouble makers travelling to carnival. Six Operation
SHIELD teams and three mobile Intervention teams were deployed
outside the carnival area supported by MPS Firearms teams. A Section
60 Search Authority was in force for both days, and over 3,000
searches were carried out. 49 arrests were made over the two days
for offences ranging from drugs supply, public order and possession
of knives. A firearm was also recovered. Other arrests included
possession of CS spray, robbery and money laundering. In addition
to these arrests, over 100 cannabis warnings were issued this
year. This compares to a total of 32 arrests in 2007. Hand held
devices were used to excellent effect this year allowing officers
to process offenders and utilise street bail where appropriate
avoiding long delays processing prisoners for minor offences in
custody centres. Figure 1 details the use of section 60 powers
used by officers.
Figure 1
| 2008 |
| 2007 | |
| Sunday 24 August | 559
| Sunday 26 August | 94 |
| Monday 25 August | 629 |
Monday 27 August | 597 |
| |
| |
Since the inception of Operation SHIELD in February 2006
the incidence of knife enabled crime has shown a steady decrease
in the Greater London Area. It is very likely the reductions in
offending are in part attributable to the visible presence of
officers and WTMDs, which act to deter knife carrying and reassure
commuters, and additionally in the high number of arrests which
have succeeded in removing offenders from the rail network. Incidents/crimes
where persons are found in possession of an offensive weapon are
increasing, however this can be attributed to current operations
and increased awareness of the knife carrying culture, prompting
officers to more regularly search suspicious persons.
ISSUES
1. Whilst the detection and deterrent value of "knife
arches" has a proven track record, an increasing reliance
on the use of knife arches as part of an overall policing strategy
to reduce instances of knife crime has caused a number of practical
and theoretical issues to emerge as a result of procedural and
legislative oversight governing their operational use.
(i) Prohibition of voluntary searches—Paragraph 1.5.
of Code A of the Codes of Practice prohibits what might best be
called voluntary searches. In effect a suspect may not be searched,
even where consent is provided in an absence of "reasonable
suspicion"; a procedural stumbling block to the unfettered
use of "knife arches" and similar mechanisms. An exception
to the procedural prohibition on the conduct of voluntary searches
however is where submission to examination is a condition of entry
to a named premises of specific location. In relation to policing
the railways, one option may be to have as a condition of carriage,
when people purchase a ticket that they agree to being searched.
(ii) Definition of "Knife Arch" Process—in
relation to the definitional merits of an examination by "knife
arch" recent legal opinion states that such an undertaking
would be viewed by the courts as amounting to an "electronic
scan" rather than a search as defined by the Police and Criminal
Evidence Act 1984. So by definition a "knife arch" examination
would fall outside the procedural prohibition on the conduct of
voluntary searches; in effect a person may submit to examination
by "knife arch" in an absence of reasonable suspicion.
That said those volunteers who subsequently activate the "knife
arch" mechanism may only be searched where "reasonable
suspicion" is present.
(iii) Section 60 Stop and Search Orders—Section 60 of
the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (as amended) allows
a police inspector, in anticipation of violence or large scale
disorder, to authorise the imposition of a dedicated stop and
search regime, the exercise of which is not reliant upon the prior
existence of reasonable suspicion. As a mechanism for enforcing
compliance with a "Knife Arch" regime Section 60 stop
and search procedures are without parallel; being the preferred
option of the MPS when conducting "knife arch" operations
within a given "public space". Such authorisations are
of course dependant however upon justifiable anticipation of acts
of violence or other large scale disorder.
2. Within BTP jurisdiction is St Pancras International
Station, passengers entering the station to board international
trains are screened as they would be at an airport. Of concern
is the number of weapons discovered in the possession of people
who are about to leave the country. The types of weapons range
from small pocket knives to large hunting knives, CS spray, flick
knives and coshes. BTP recorded 54 crimes for possession of offensive
weapons at Waterloo International in 2007-08 compared to 261 in
2006-07. 55 offences for possession of offensive weapons were
recorded at St Pancras International.
The majority of these offenders have previously entered the
country via a port and have brought with them the weapon and therefore
had it in their possession for an extended period of time on the
streets of the UK. In some instances visitors from abroad mistakenly
believe they are permitted to carry weapons. Clearly there is
a need to take advantage of international partnerships to work
in cooperation with the UK to communicate the strong anti-weapon
stance that the UK takes. In BTP's recent experience efforts to
encourage transport carriers, or indeed border agencies, to publicise
the fact that possession of weapons or bladed articles is prohibited
has not met with huge success.
One solution might be an awareness campaign by carriers and
travel agents together with amnesty bins at ports of entry—this
would reduce the number of weapons being carried on the UK streets.
APPENDIX
9
Passenger Focus (National passenger Survey Autumn 2007). Back
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