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.   M...

  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 examinatio...

                                                                   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 on...

 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...

  The history of the law as it applies to railway and dock police is complex.   Things take a lot of unpicking and it is not unusual for errors in interpretation to persist for decades.   It is an area of niche interest to police historians and remains largely unresearched.   Even a little knowledge of the subject shows that police officers of all generations have sought to make, often inadequate, laws work in the interests of justice.   Officers of railway and dock forces are also guilty of more than a dose of legal wishful thinking. I have written elsewhere about the nonsense of the restricted jurisdiction of modern BTP officers.   Various opportunities to put this right have been missed.   Most particularly at the time of the drafting of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, which is the modern legislative basis for BTP.   The Act, which clarified jurisdiction in some ways also resulted in the loss of the ‘in the vicinity’ power.  ...

All the many corners of the excellent British Transport Police History Group website (1) are worth exploring.  None more so than the carefully complied list of those who lost their lives in service and the lists of those who have been honoured by the sovereign for their commendable conduct. Of course the latter list includes those who could expect a ‘gong’ because of their rank or the nature of the job they did,  but there can also be found many whose achievements in policing are of the first order.  Among them are officers recognised for their bravery, sometimes in the most dreadful of circumstances.  One thing that is clear is that in every generation (including the current one) there has never been a shortage of officers who are willing to risk their lives in the execution of their duty.  While reading the lists one name struck me:  William Charles BRERETON.  He was a PC (acting detective) stationed in one of the less glamourous locations on the rai...

  Chief officers of police like to boast.   They are, generally, proud of their force and can be forgiven for the pleasure they derive from the actions of those they command.   They are at their most boastful when in the company of their peers.   George Stephens, the long serving Chief of the Great Western Railway Police, took the opportunity of a meeting of the Police Chiefs Conference of the Railway Executive (the wartime body that brought together the mainline railways and the London Passenger Transport Board during the Second World War) to tell of the good work of one of his officers. An unnamed special constable had challenged a group of men leaving the dock at Penarth in South Wales.   Three of the suspects stopped but the fourth made off.   The special constable drew his issue revolver and shot the fleeing man, wounding him in the thigh.   Alas there are no details of what happened to the suspects including the one brought down by the officer. ...