Policing Public Transport: A Neglected History

  The terrorist attacks on London in 2005 now seem like a long time ago –they also feel like they happened yesterday.   They occurred at a time when the scourge of terrorism was at the forefront of government thinking and police policy.   The attacks in New York and Washington were a recent memory and there had been several major plots foiled in the UK in the previous couple of years.   In March 2004 a most dreadful attack against people using the railway in Madrid had killed nearly 200.   By 2005 we all spoke about it being not a matter of ‘if’ but it being a matter of ‘when’.     We attended and ran exercises.   We planned.   When it did happen in July 2005 the response of the emergency and other services was first class.   Not perfect, it never could be, but impressive on a scale that can still bring a lump to the throat of a sentimental pensioner.   52 entirely innocent people lost their lives and hundreds were injured.   Many more had their lives changed.   Few involved were left

  Replica of a LPTB Police Warrant Card Police memorabilia can change hands at very high prices.   In practice this means that museums and formal groups miss out on owning and preserving items that would be core to their collections. As I write this there is a London Passenger Transport Board Police (LPTB) Warrant Card from 1940 that is on sale on ebay for £249.00. It looks like a fine item but at a price beyond the reach of all but the most avid or wealthy of collectors. Some time ago replicas of LPTB Police Warrant Cards were on sale on the same auction site.   There was NO claim that they were original and they were sold on the basis that they were reproductions, at a very reasonable price.   Such objects are useful when mounting displays or delivering lectures as they protect the original or, in the absence of the real thing, provide a surrogate.   For this reason, a copy was acquired by the British Transport Police History Group (BTPHG). On examination it was clear that the

                                                                   Viscount Slim KG GCB GCMG GCVO GBE DSO MC KStJ                                                                                                    (Source Unknown ) Many police forces of the United Kingdom, and several overseas, proudly wear the Crown as part of their cap badge and as a symbol of the fact that police officers are attested in the name of the sovereign.    I say this but actually, within the UK, the Sovereign only gets a mention in England and Wales.   The form of attestation in Scotland and Northern Ireland manages not to mention the King at all and in Northern Ireland, for obvious reasons, no Crown is worn on the uniform.   Indeed even on the mainland it is not universal as a glance at the helmet badge of the City of London Police demonstrates (although on other badges worn by City officers the Crown does appear). There seems to be no single point at which all police forces started to wear the Crown.  

 I recently had the pleasure of preparing a briefing note for the BTPHG on the subject of railway nationalisation and the impact of the creation of the British Transport Commission on policing.  Re-reading this I think I under state the importance of the bringing together of the various railway police 'forces' under one employer when nationalisation occurred.  The key point I was trying to make is that the legislative arrangements for the police were delayed and even then only transferred the power to appoint constables (subject to the approval of magistrates etc) from the private companies to the BTC.  Anyway here is a copy of my ramblings on the subject: 1.0            BACKGROUND 1.1        A small handful of people have pointed out that 2023 is the 75 th anniversary of the establishment of the British Transport Commission and have raised the question of whether this is a significant date in the history of RDC policing (1) 1.2        2023 is also the 60 th (9 th Decemb