Talk:British Transport Police

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Contents

[edit] The issue of BTP officers jurisdiction

A bit of an editing war may be about to break out regarding this issue between myself and Richio. So in an effort to try and sort it out I suggest we discuss here first. The large legislation quote that keeps being added is trying to be used to evidence that BTP officers have the same jurisdiction as Home Office police officers. In fact if you look at the legislation closely and are familiar with criminal law and policing it actually supports my contention that BTP officers do not have the same jurisdiction as Home Office force officers.

Home Office police force officers have jurisdiction throughout England and Wales in any situation, at any time, with regards to any criminal matter.

BTP officers normally only have jurisdiction on railway property or off railway property with matters pertaining to railways i.e. theft at a train station, BTP officers go to home address of offender and arrest off railway property.

The legislation which I keep deleting has extended BTP officers jurisdiction off railway property but only if certian conditions are met. I.e. if asked to assist by a Home Office force officer or if a BTP officer off railway property believes an offence has been committed or is being committed there and then and he/needs to act because no local force officer is there and action needs to be taken straight away. Home Office police officers only need to suspect an offence which is a major legal difference, suspicion being a lower threshold then belief. Also this legislation pointedly says it only extends BTP officers jurisdiction for a particular incident not a coverall extension of jurisdiction to match Home Office officers.

Another major difference is that a constable is a constable in a Home Office force even if he is in not in uniform and doesn't happen to have his warrant card on him. This conditional extension of BTP officers jurisdiction actually stipulates that they must be in uniform or have a warrant card on them to use these conditional powers.

I could go into more detail , but by reading the legislation it can be readily seen that BTP officers have not had their jurisdiction extended to match that of Home Office forces.

The aricle may need to be altered to outline this conditional extension more clearly but to those not involved in policing its probably not relevant. In practise the alteration in the 2001 Act has allowed BTP and MDP officers to act in an emergency if there is no Home Office officer to hand but it has not extended these specialist force officers jurisdiction to match that of the Home Office forces of England and Wales. Dibble999 08:26, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Dibble, don't stress it not the beginning of an editing war merely my belief that a minor alteration would improve an

essentially a good page regarding BTP.

Your passage "BTP constables have the powers of a constable off railway property if they are investigating crime which was committed on railway property or if they come across an emergency situation, where waiting for a local police officer to attend would be impracticable.  is where my disagreement lies. This statement does not adequately explain the BTP's powers away from the railway infrastructure. 

The boring bit:


Section 100(2) of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 states: Members of the British Transport Police Force have in any police area the same powers and privileges as constables of the police force for that area:-

(a) in relation to persons whom they suspect on reasonable grounds of having committed, being in the course of committing or being about to commit an offence, or

(b) if they believe on reasonable grounds that they need those powers and privileges in order to save life or limb or to prevent or minimise personal injury.

What you have written in the discussion here only reflects the Note attached to Subsection (2) "The legislation which I keep deleting has extended BTP officers jurisdiction off railway property but only if certian conditions are met. I.e. if asked to assist by a Home Office force officer or if a BTP officer off railway property believes an offence has been committed or is being committed there and then and he/needs to act because no local force officer is there and action needs to be taken straight away. Home Office police officers only need to suspect an offence which is a major legal difference, suspicion being a lower threshold then belief. Also this legislation pointedly says it only extends BTP officers jurisdiction for a particular incident not a coverall extension of jurisdiction to match Home Office officers"

And finally...

I agree that this is mostly irrelevant to persons with no knowledge to policing and the law, but should someone read this by clicking a link intentionally or by mistake, I feel they would be better informed if it was more accurate. If I click on a page containing a subject of which I know nothing about, I would hope that it was fully correct. I would be pleased to help should there be anything you would like to know regarding BTP or Essex Pol.

Richio

Given this is an encyclopedic page for the general public and that we can provide links to s100 & 100 of ATCSA for those who are really interested, how about the following:

British Transport Police officers are constables with the same powers as constables of regional police forces when on railway property and can also exercise their powers in most, though not all, situations throughout England, Wales and Scotland.[1] The following is an extract from the BTP National Legal Database which may assist:

“

TITLE Anti-terrorism - jurisdiction of British Transport Police PNLD REF NO D10357 NARRATIVE Part 10, sections 88 to 100 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 deal with police powers. Section 100 permits British Transport Police officers to act outside their normal railway jurisdiction. These measures are intended to improve the effectiveness of the BTP enabling it to play a fuller role in protecting the public from terrorism and other crimes.

100(1) Where a member of the British Transport Police Force has been requested by a constable of:- (a) the police force for any police area, (b) the Ministry of Defence Police, or (c) the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, ('the requesting force') to assist him in the execution of his duties in relation to a particular incident, investigation or operation, members of the British Transport Police Force have for the purposes of that incident, investigation or operation the same powers and privileges as constables of the requesting force.

See note (i) below

100(2) Members of the British Transport Police Force have in any police area the same powers and privileges as constables of the police force for that police area:- (a) in relation to persons whom they suspect on reasonable grounds of having committed, being in the course of committing or being about to commit an offence, or (b) if they believe on reasonable grounds that they need those powers and privileges in order to save life or to prevent or minimise personal injury.

See note (ii) below

100(3) But members of the British Transport Police Force have powers and privileges by virtue of subsection (2) only if:- (a) they are in uniform or have with them documentary evidence that they are members of that Force, and (b) they believe on reasonable grounds that a power of a constable which they would not have apart from that subsection ought to be exercised and that, if it cannot be exercised until they secure the attendance of or a request under subsection (1) by a constable who has it, the purpose for which they believe it ought to be exercised will be frustrated or seriously prejudiced.

See note (iii) below

100(4) In this section:- British Transport Police Force means the constables appointed under section 53 of the British Transport Commission Act 1949, and United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary means the special constables appointed under section 3 of the Special Constables Act 1923 on the nomination of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

Notes (i) Subsection (1) allows a BTP officer to assist a member of a Home department police force, the MDP or the UK Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary (UKAEAC) when assistance is requested by them. The BTP officer can only assist in relation to a single incident, investigation, or operation but will have the same powers and privileges of a constable of the requesting police force. This is to avoid confusion, so that there will be no difference in the powers available to the BTP officer on such an occasion and an officer from the other force whom he is assisting. (ii) Subsection (2) allows a BTP officer to intervene if he reasonably believes that an offence has been, is or is about to be committed; or in order to prevent injury or save life. In these circumstances the BTP officer will have the same powers and privileges of a Home Department police officer. A BTP officer can only act under subsection (2) if he satisfies the requirements of subsection (3). (iii) BTP constables already have jurisdiction on, and in the vicinity of, the railways and elsewhere on railway matters. They need however to move between railway sites and often have a presence in city centres, and BTP officers are frequently called upon to intervene in incidents outside their 'railways' jurisdiction. It is estimated that some such 8,000 incidents occur each year. In these circumstances BTP officers only have the powers of an ordinary citizen, despite being police officers fully trained to standards of a Home Office force, and despite routinely dealing with the same range of incidents in the course of their railway activities.

Index SOURCE Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 ALL RELATED MATERIAL 100 - Jurisdiction of transport police NATIONAL REGION UK


 ”

[edit] References

  1. ^ s100 Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001
Anyone who is really interested can read the actual text of the act, whilst the general idea that in most circumstances a BTP officer can excercise their powers, is put across? Just a thought from the met...
PS, Richio, you can 'sign' your posts by typing ~~~~. Like this: Sapient 19:26, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, I've said my piece and in truth my main issue is the perception that would be given of the jurisdiction where you have written that BTP constables have powers of a constable when investigating railway offences on someone else's patch. To me this seems misleading. Sapient, thanks for the sig tip. New to all this, I've been stuck down tunnels for too many years!!

Richio 20:01, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

Yep, I think your suggestion above is great and would be better. Just re-read what I put at the top and I come across as a bit uperty. Sorry about that, must remember not to edit after finishing a bad night shift! The dealings I've had with BTP in my area (GMP) have all been good and I wasn't intending to have a dig at the BTP. Richo, just out of interest, I've heard rumours that the Met want to take over BTP within the M25 like they did with the Royal Parks Constabulary. Any truth to this? Dibble999 15:41, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

I Know the feeling of a bad night shift!

The Met absorbing the BTP rumour has been floating around for about 25 years now, what I've heard most recently is from the reports that have emanated since the July bombings. At the moment L Area which is the section funded by London Underground & DLR is policed by around 600 officers in total. Metpol said to cover the area effectively they would need around 2500-3000 officers. Ken Livingstone is pushing desperately for London to have 1 police force, London underground would never agree to the funding that would be needed to meet the Met's requirements. City Pol have also been mentioned and have threatened to relocate the businesses in the corporation of London (which fund City Pol) to Germany should the the City be forced to merge, essentially destroying Britain's financial sector.

The reports also made note that it benefited to have a specialist railway force, this has somewhat been backtracked under pressure from Livingstone. If the BTP within the M25 went to the Met also absorbed would be large parts of H Area (London South) and B Area (London North) which bring in the majority of revenue for those areas within the London stations, now baring in mind H Area covers also Kent, Sussex and Surrey. The BTP outside the M25 would not make enough money to exist and those officers stationed there would most likely be amalgamated into local forces as specialist sections, which would deal with railway problems primarily, the BTP would then cease to exist.

I spoke to the Chief Constable in February and his belief is that the merger realistically is so difficult to co-ordinate that it will continued to be talked about yet never actually take place. Personally I don't believe it would make a great deal of difference to merge or not as I enjoy working with Met units and we most of the time end up dealing with as many jobs of there's as they do our's. I would be disappointed however as another piece of history would be lost.

Richio 22:19, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Any rumours that I may have gone into the back yard of a certain BTP station in London and wound-up a probationer that I was 'checking to see where we would put things when we took over' are wholy without foundation. Honest. But seriously, I've not heard anything from the met side, aside from one rumour saying that the BTP were going to be unable to police Crossrail and that we would have to do it instead... Sapient 22:26, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

The Crossrail policing I've also heard would be undertaken by MPS, most likely be some new addition to TOCU's tasks. Other than the funding I can't understand why MPS would be interested in it really. BTP would be able to manage it would just mean more new recruits. As for the wind ups, that's what makes this job worth doing sometimes, truthfully I should say most of the time.

Richio 22:48, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

I can assure you, at ground level, there is no groundswell of support for taking over the BTP - it's a non-issue! Sapient 22:02, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Crime on the Railway

Not sure what this section is trying to convey. It states, "BTP officers can deal with..." then goes on to list a number of different crimes?! This is a bit misleading as BTP officers can deal with any crime as any other police officer. Not sure why it is there. Dibble999 21:33, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

I've now removed the strange list. It is pointless and not accurate. BTP officers can deal with all crime and bye laws on the rail network so the list was somewhat misleading. Dibble999 13:30, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Non-npov section

The BTP's reputation was further lowered following a low-speed train derailment near Glasgow, caused by the track spreading because of thermal expansion in unusually hot weather, when the BTP insisted on treating the accident as a scene of crime, detaining hundreds of passengers for many hours while statements were taken. Says who? It's not cited and not really a very NPOV so perhaps it should be removed, or at least atrributed to whoever said it?? Escaper7 08:07, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Misc

  • I have expanded the history
  • I have recast a secton on Control Rooms which had an unfairly London-centric view of the force
  • I have, as far as possible, added references.

--Maxburgoyne 00:09, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Personally, I'm not a fan of long sections on history so far up an article. I think it's extremely detailed and comprehensive which is great; but I think it's in the wrong place and should be further down the article. Just my view. Escaper7 13:09, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tyne & Wear Metro

I've just added that BTP polices the Sunderland line of the Tyne and Wear Metro (between Pelaw and South Hylton) However, there is talk that responsibility for the whole of the Tyne and Wear network be changed from Northumbria Police to BTP in the not-so-distant future... BNC85 15:00, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Foundation

Can anyone dig up a proper cite for the first group of constables employed solely to protect railways who were:-

  • -railway employees
  • -employed as constables

and were not:-

  • -merely "policemen" in the early railway sense, i.e. persons principally concerned with the control of trains
  • -railwaymen who happened also to be (ordinary non-railway) constables, unless the latter was necessarily done so that a force of railway constables could be formed within the existing workforce

Presumably some of the many railway histories have authoritative references.

The BTP claim of 1829 (unless I've missed an update) fails to quote anything that doesn't verify that the "policemen" are not actually the early signalmen.

This could also give scope for a paragaph listing earlier forces. --MBRZ48 19:15, 4 June 2007 (UTC)


I have checked with the BTP Historical Society based at Tadworth. It is on an intranet so sadly I cannot provide a link. I appreciate that the responsibilities may well have been closer to a track inspector than a curent police officer; how can we know? A solution may be a paragraph from yourself to that effect.
--MJB 19:39, 4 June 2007 (UTC)
The quote does not however describe them as "constables" which is what the BTP and its predecessors are groups of. This is indirectly warned about on the web page http://www.met.police.uk/history/records.htm of the Metropolitan Police.


I think your additions are an elegant solution to the debate. Thanks.--MJB 07:41, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Reading between the lines of the references so far tripped over and adding what we already have it looks like the final (but unconfirmed) result might be that the Special Constables Act 1831 was used by railways to extend the disciplinary/protective function of the (previously not "constables") policemen beyond that of being mere caretakers (if/when they weren't controlling trains) confined to the boundaries of the railways. If so then there might be several effectively simultaneous claimants for the first railway constabulary dedicated specifically to law enforcement. There was an earlier Act in 1820 (according to http://www.policespecials.com/history/history.htm ) but their description suggests it was unlikely to have been used as a back-door method by railways and others to form their own constabularies. Possibly the J R Whitbread book has more detail in it but as it was published in 1961 I'm not expecting to walk into a library and find a copy staring at me. Regarding the frock coat worn by the signal/"police"men, this seems to have been a common mode of dress for assorted figures of authority so the wearing of it by both those persons and constables (or anyone who had a dual function) was possibly expected/natural.--MBRZ48 02:08, 6 June 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Crime on Heritage Ralways

The statement that BTP does not investigate crime on any transport system it does not have a service agreement with , is incorrect. BTP does have a responsibility for investigating crime on heritage/preserved railways. I have included one link to a newpaper report on an incident in North Wales.--Pandaplodder 12:27, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

I work for the BTP and we do NOT police heritage railways unless, for example, a steam train special is running on the mainline. If you are stuck on the Snowdon railway do not call us. One of the articles cited states N Wales Pol attended and the other is a blog entry from PandsPlodder! --MJB 15:14, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

which is me, the railway in question was the Welsh Highland (Porthmadog), which has had vandalism, unforunately I can't find the other news report in a rail magazine which stated BTP from Bangor was investigating vandalism and an airgun incident, the report staed that BTp had responsibility for Hertitage railways?

The article is wrong. I am not sure that a blog entry by yourself counts as a citation. Near Porthmadog the mainline and the heritage line run parallel which may cause confusion. Similarly, at Aberystwyth the Vale of Rheidol railway does, I believe, share the same railstn as the mainline. Heritage railways cannot, I am afraid, afford BTP! --MJB 14:21, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] BTP Specials Jurisdiction

The section on BTP Specials currently makes a claim that they have more powers than BTP regulars! My reading of the law would dispute this. As far as I am aware BTP specials have the same jurisdiction as BTP regulars and the recent ammendment to Specials jurisdiction only applies to Home Office (territorial) forces Special Constables. Any BTP colleagues out there who can confirm this?

I have done some research and the assertion currently in this section that BTP Specials have more jurisdiction than BTP regulars is incorrect. The recent ammendment to the law alligning Specials to have the same jurisdiction as regulars applies only to the Police Act 1996 i.e. Home Office forces. BTP specials do not get their powers through this but BTP specific legislation as they are not a 'Home Office' force. So the recent change to Home Office force Specials has not altered BTP Specials jurisdiction which remains exactly the same as BTP regulars. I have changed the article accordingly. Dibble999 12:28, 23 June 2007 (UTC)


[edit] reference organization

The ref numbers don't seem to add up. Is there a straight forward reason for this in articles? --maxrspct ping me 10:43, 22 October 2007 (UTC) Be more specific? --MJB 22:12, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Leeds Control Room

I've updated the section to read that Leeds Control Room has now closed. I am unsure as to whether Manchester and Glasgow for North Western and Scotland have closed as of yet, but the North Eastern area is now dealt with by Birmingham. BNC85 (talk) 09:39, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] '+ern' suffix for Area Names

I've just added the '+ern' suffixes to North East and North West as these are their official titles. BNC85 (talk) 13:07, 31 March 2008 (UTC)