Policing Public Transport: A Neglected History

  The constrained jurisdiction of railway, dock and canal (RDC) police has always been a problem.   It still is.    A particularly difficult example can be found in the experience of Pc Wilfred LUCAS of the Midland Railway Police, Nottingham. One night in late Spring 1903 Pc LUCAS was on duty at the station when he was approached by a member of the public telling him that nearby a woman was calling for help saying that she had been assaulted by her husband and that he had threatened to murder her and their children.   At first he, correctly, pointed out that this was a matter for the City Police and that he had no jurisdiction.   Bystanders pleaded with him, fearful for the life of the victim.   He therefore made his way the short distance to the address in question.   As he was alone two railway staff came to assist.   On his arrival the officer spoke to witnesses and gained access to the house via a window where he arrested the suspect, a...

  Police Misconduct has been a problem since the very beginning of policing.   One particular type – that of making false claims – has persisted for generations.   Most supervisory officers will have had cause to look carefully at timesheets and to doubt the honesty of some claims of sickness.   To lend proper support to officers without giving licence to the dishonest and the idle is one of the challenges of police management. In 1903 Pc William PARK of the Lancs and Yorks Railway police (based at Liverpool Exchange) claimed that he had injured himself when inspecting premises on his beat.   He sustained a serious injury and cuts to his hand.   He was able to claim on the insurance fund and received half pay.   Over a period of several months he received a total of £7.    Unfortunately for him the company discovered (by what means we do not know) that he was lying about the cause of his injuries.   Evidence was obtained that he had in...

  I have, at long last, returned to my project of searching early editions of Police Review & Parade Gossip for items relating to the Rail, Dock and Canal (RDC) Policing.   I have run into a couple of years where the index (which was compiled at the end of end calendar year) is missing which means I have had no choice but to go through every page of every edition.   Police Review was a weekly publication that described itself as ‘The Organ of the British Constabulary’.   It provides a valuable insight into the issues that concerned police officers and the public. So, what were the big questions of the early Edwardian period?   Well, questions of law make a frequent appearance together with operational demands.   The delay to the Coronation of Edward VII in 1902 (he was ill) led to a lot of operational angst.   Even today mutual aid brings challenges but imagine what it was like when there were 243 forces (i) covering England, Scotland and Wales. ...

  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...