Policing Public Transport: A Neglected History

  For me history is a nice and safe hobby.   Sitting in warm archives wading through documents is a good way a, mostly, unemployed person can keep out of the way.   It helps that my areas of interest are niche and largely unimportant to most people.   But, history has a habit of invading the present and, moreover, what is history to some people is unfinished business to others.   To understand the past one sometimes has to step into the present day. I have written several times about the case of Derek RIDGEWELL.   He was, as most people now know, a corrupt British Transport Police officer who died in prison in 1982.   He was imprisoned for theft and associated offences from the Bricklayers Arms goods depot in south London.   He was associated with organised crime and, throughout the 1970s, regularly targeted innocent men and ‘fitted them up’ for offences of which they were entirely innocent.   RIDGEWELL was a racist, a thug and a perjurer. ...

         OSTIME's entry in the District Railway Staff Register showing his steady promotion and frequent commendations.  The last entry lists a bonus in respect of the arrest that was to bring about his           conviction.    District Railway Register on www.ancestry.co.uk     Crowded places attract thieves.   This has always been true and the coming of the railways created a particularly attractive target for those who have chosen to disregard the 7 th Commandment.   From the mid 19 th century the railway companies started to tackle the problem of theft from passengers, including pickpocketing.     Several companies employed officers specifically to target this problem and virtually all of these officers executed their duties with zeal and fidelity. More recently and since the war the   ‘Dip’ Squad of the London Transport and then British Transport Police have acquired a re...