Trains: Antisocial Behaviour and Crimes of Violence

(asked on 8th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce antisocial behaviour and assaults on trains.


Answered by
Chris Heaton-Harris Portrait
Chris Heaton-Harris
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
This question was answered on 14th June 2021

The Government is committed to reducing crime, anti-social behaviour (ASB) and the fear of crime wherever it occurs in the transport system. We want to see more and more people using public transport - one of the key ways of encouraging this is to make sure it is a safe option.

The Department works with the British Transport Police (BTP) to tackle crime and ASB on the railways in Great Britain. Train Operating Companies are required to work with BTP to manage and reduce railway crime.

BTP has dedicated public order and violent crime officers who are deployed to some of the more challenging locations on the rail network.

BTP has run a number of successful initiatives in recent years to encourage more reporting of crimes, which is also likely to be a factor in the increase in numbers of crimes reported. BTP has a popular dedicated crime reporting text service - ‘61016’ – which allows people to report offences to the police easily and discreetly.

During the pandemic the British Transport Police have worked closely with rail industry colleagues to ensure that ASB, assaults and staff aggression have been kept to a minimum whilst restrictions have been in place. The rail industry has been encouraged to promote Body Worn Video as a safety feature, as there is evidence that it deters aggressive behaviour to the wearer and supports the evidential chain in the event of an assault or aggression.

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