A Forward Looking Chief

Having read Paul Robb's obituary of our late Chief Constable, Desmond O'Brien, in the latest edition of the the BTPHG Newsletter I was struck by just what an innovator he was. This also came over in the excellent eulogy given at his funeral by Peter Holden . With this in mind I dug out of the archives the Force's first mission statement that was introduced under his leadership in the early 1990s (see image). It was a thoroughly modern document. It has stood the test of time. Its emphasis on ethical policing and on the needs of the victim are as important today as they were 25 years ago. I recall him lecturing us about the idea of 'treating each call as if it came from a member of your family'. He warned against it becoming a 'mere slogan' and reminded us that such strap lines would only have meaning if police officers believed in them.

His contribution to the policing of the railways of Great Britain amounts to an important chapter in our history.

BTP Mission Statement: Mid 1990s: BTPHG Collection

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Films for Thought

While searching the index to the material held by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) I stumbled across a couple of items relevant to this blog. Film footage can sometimes feel like a peep hole into the past. Each individual that appears would have had their own story to tell. Perhaps this is a theme I will return to in relation to the footage which catches – sometimes only in passing – railway, dock or canal police officers. The two IWM clips that caught my eye were: A 1942 film showing war work being carried out by women on the Southern Railway. Includes a shot of a member of WPC, Southern Railway Police directing traffic at Waterloo. The commentary reflects the social assumptions of the time. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060021182 A silent 1940 film about the evacuation of children. Shows footage at the front of St Pancras Station with police officers including an LMS Sergeant. https://www.iwm.org...

Law and History 2: JUST THE SAME AS OTHER FORCES?

Reading through this before posting makes me fear that it is not historical enough for this blog and trespasses into contemporary issues. So be it. But I do feel it necessary to remind readers that this blog does NOT represent the view of the BTPHG. These ramblings are mine alone. It is rarely accurate to say that history repeats itself, but it is true that somethings that we think are settled in the past return to challenge us again. When I was a serving police officer in BTP I saw a steady evolution in the status of the force. The achievements of officers, particularly in facing the ‘decade of disasters’ (1980s) and the acknowledged expertise of BTP in dealing with certain classes of activity (terrorism, theft person, theft of goods in transit, major incident response, football disorder etc) all led to an increasing recognition that BTP was an equal member of the police family. In concrete terms this had been marked by the recommendation of ...

The Oldest Railway Policeman?

Photograph: Police Review and Parade Gossip 03 Sep 1897 In 1898 Superintendent James WRIGHT, Chief of the Great Central Railway Police, died. He was 77 years old, (but see below). At the time of his death the newspapers proclaimed that he was the oldest serving railway policemen in the country. It’s a well know fact that Superintendents have an easy life but 77 is a bit much, especially in a time when the average life expectancy for a male infant aged one year was 46. Of course, life expectancy figures are skewed by high rates of infant mortality. At birth James WRIGHT had a life expectancy of just 41 years. The railway police were not covered by the pension provisions of the Police Act 1890 and instead each railway company made its own arrangements with special benevolent funds bei...

Policing Public Transport: A Neglected History

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