Railroad police

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Railroad police is a type of specialized law enforcement agency responsible for policing railroad (or railway) lines. In the United States and Canada, they are employed by the major Class I railroads, as well as some smaller ones. In other countries, this work is typically done by territorial police forces rather than specialized agencies. In Britain, railways fall under the jurisdiction of the British Transport Police, a nation-wide force that is also responsible for policing public transit systems.

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[edit] History

Allan Pinkerton (left) began the first railroad police in the US at the urging of Abraham Lincoln (center) when the future president was a lawyer for the Illinois Central Railroad.
Allan Pinkerton (left) began the first railroad police in the US at the urging of Abraham Lincoln (center) when the future president was a lawyer for the Illinois Central Railroad.

[edit] United States

The history of railroad police in the United States traces back to the beginnings of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. In the mid nineteenth century, the number of US Marshals was insufficient to police the railway lines sprawling across the vast frontier. Passing through areas far removed from the protective measures available in populated centers left railroad lines and their passengers and freight vulnerable to banditry. Through his detective business, Allan Pinkerton met George B. McClellan, the president of the Rock Island and Illinois Central Railroad, as well as its attorney, Abraham Lincoln. With Lincoln’s encouragement, Pinkerton began supplying detectives for the railroad. Railroad contracts were subsequently a mainstay of Pinkerton’s until railroad companies gradually developed their own police departments in the years following the Civil War.[1] [2] After the founding of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in 1863, Pinkerton’s and the new railroad police agencies became instrumental in crushing strikes of rail workers.[3] Another major concern was pilferage by employees, especially the passenger conductor, who had the greatest authority and freedom on passenger trains and collected ticket fees. Pinkerton began this work for the South Michigan Line in 1854, and on 1 February 1855, he created the North West Police Agency with $10,000 given for the cause by six anxious Midwestern railroads.[4]

[edit] Canada

In Canada, the construction of railways served a similar nation-building function as it did in the US and also brought new police agencies into existence. Years before Confederation, railway constables were given full police powers within one quarter mile of company property and vehicles. The Canadian Pacific Railway initially relied on the North-West Mounted Police during construction of the transcontinental railroad, but by the latter 1880s were employing their own police. The large numbers of navvies recruited to build the railways brought security problems for rail companies. In 1900, the CPR established its Special Service Department. It worked closely with municipal, federal, and provincial police and given a mandate to prevent and investigate pilferage, theft, and vandalism, as well as policing strikes. The CPR police was also responsible for closely guarding Chinese workers, who were considered “detainees” and virtually treated as prisoners under the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885. The Special Service was dissolved in 1904 following a scandal involving the business practices of a CPR Labour Department agent in Montreal, but was resurrected in 1913 as the Department of Investigation.[5]

[edit] United States

The status of railroad police agents as law enforcement officers varies by state, in that they are commissioned by the governor of the state they serve in and carry both state arrest powers to prosecute smaller offenses, yet also carry federal arrest powers (unlike local and state law enforcement) to prosecute offenders on larger, more serious offenses. It is important to note that railroad police officers are not security guards. Although railroad police primarily enforce laws on or near the railroad right of way, their agents can and do enforce laws and make arrests off of railroad property and on issues not involving the railroad, such as driving while intoxicated.

Depending upon the jurisdiction, railroad police officers may be deputized peace officers or designated a "Special Agent".

Some of the crimes railroad police investigate include trespassing on the right-of-way of a railroad, assaults against passengers, terrorism threats targeting the railroad, arson, tagging of graffiti on railroad rolling stock or buildings, signal vandalism, pickpocketing, ticket fraud, robbery and theft of personal belongings, baggage or freight. Other incidents railroad police investigate include derailments, train/vehicle collisions, vehicle accidents on the right of way, and hazardous materials releases.

[edit] Jurisdiction and authority

Major Class I railroad police such as Union Pacific, BNSF or CSX are certified law enforcement officers and carry full state and federal arrest powers in any state in which the railroad owns property.[citation needed] All U.S. states (with the exception of Wyoming and Oklahoma - which do not recognize railroad police at the state level) require that any railroad employee who the railroad requests to be appointed or commissioned by the state as a railroad police officer shall complete the same training as any sworn officer in that state. Officers commissioned in their state of residence (or the state where they are employed) may then exercise federal police powers as provided by 49 U.S. Code §28101.

Railroad police tend to have better results in finding perpetrators of crimes they investigate than public police forces, possibly due to specialization and smaller case loads.

[edit] Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF)

Most railroad police agencies are participants in the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).[1]

[edit] Railroad Police Agencies

[edit] External railroad police links in the United States

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Railroad Police History. Carrizo Gorge Railway Police. Retrieved on April 4, 2007.
  2. ^ Saving Mr. Lincoln, 1861-1865. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on April 4, 2007.
  3. ^ Pinkerton, Allen (1878). Strikers, Communists, Tramps and Detectives. New York: G.W. Carleton & Co., 96. 
  4. ^ Morn, Frank (1982). The Eye that Never Sleeps: A History of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 25. ISBN 978-025332-086-5. 
  5. ^ Marquis, Greg (1993). Policing Canada’s Century: A History of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 134-135. 
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