Written evidence from the British Transport Police Authority and British Transport Police (SOR0010)
1. Background
1.1 Established with powers and jurisdiction as a specialist police force by the Railways Transport Safety Act 2003, British Transport Police (BTP) is required to uphold the core tenets of policing, serving the wider public interest and operating without fear or favour. BTP possesses the full range of policing capabilities, including counter terrorism, necessary to police the railway. BTP operates alongside geographic police forces which have an increasing focus on local crime and an interface with national enforcement bodies such as the National Crime Agency, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and UK border functions. These relationships have enabled the BTP to lead a number of national initiatives such as Metal Theft, CCTV and suicide prevention.
1.2 BTP’s ability to use warranted powers enables it to adopt an investigative approach which is best suited to ensuring the safety of passengers and rail staff whilst safeguarding freight and minimising disruption on the railway. The requirement and method of operation has been reviewed and been confirmed by several government reviews. The BTPA and BTP have responded positively to these reviews and addressed the recommendations. The Force, like all police forces, is inspected by HMIC and has been found to be effective and efficient.
1.3 BTP, supported by the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA), has developed its own unique transport policing ethos which is specifically tailored to the needs of the rail industry and the travelling public. This is based on a proven risk-based approach to investigating crime and managing incidents in order to keep disruption on the railways to a minimum. BTP’s detailed understanding of the complex commercial environment within which it operates has enabled it to forge effective partnerships and close working relationships with the rail industry and Home Office police forces thereby reducing the risk of crime to passengers and staff below that which they might experience elsewhere.
1.4 Over the last 10 years BTP has assessed over 10,000 bomb threats and not once recommended closure. The financial saving for the rail industry achieved by avoiding unnecessary closure of the system through this approach is assessed in the billions of pounds. The wider economic benefit to the UK economy is higher. The investigatory methods BTP has developed also bring significant benefit to passengers and industry in terms of reducing delay and improving safety. For example, when BTP is the first responder to a fatality incident, closures last half the time, and cable theft incidents are dealt with in a third of the time when BTP is first on the scene.
2. Recent trends in crime and perceptions of crime on the railway.
2.1 It is predicted that by the end of 2013/14 there will have been a reduction of 25,717 offences (40%) crimes on the overground railway since 2003/04. In terms of crimes per million passengers, the rate has fallen from 63.33 in 2003/04 to an expected 24.24 for year end 2013/14. Non-notifiable crime has fallen from 40.49 to 22.21 crimes per million passengers over the same period. In 2012/13 Transport for London’s (TfL’s) rail based systems had 9.4 crimes per million passenger journeys and the predicted figure for 2013/14 shows a further 16% decrease. BTP’s overall detection rate remains constant at around 40%, which compares favourably with that of forces in England and Wales.
2.2 Sexual offences are forecast to have decreased by 7% overall since 2003/04. However, 2013/14 is projected to see an increase in reported offences, to 1,110 offences, a 20% increase against 2012/13. This is largely as a consequence of heightened public awareness from positive media coverage of BTP led initiative called Project Guardian – a multi-agency initiative with the Metropolitan Police Service’s Safer Transport Command (STC), the City of London Police and TfL with dedicated resources aimed at tackling offenders who commit sexual offences on the railway network with a focus on repeat offending. The aim is to improve the confidence that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
2.3 BTP takes violence and aggression against those who work on the railway extremely seriously and is committed to bringing offenders to justice; arresting, prosecuting and possibly banning from rail services anyone who uses violence against rail staff.
2.4 There have been some notable successes in reducing some serious crime categories including:
2.5 2012/13 saw a 16% increase in the number of offences involving theft of passenger property (which includes luggage, personal property such as mobile telephones and theft from the person or pick pocketing) to 17,292 offences when comparing it to 2011/12. This was largely because of the increased number of passengers travelling to and from the Olympic & Paralympic Games.
2.6 To further reduce the theft of passenger property BTP is running Operation Magnum. This long-term initiative involves the use of a range of tactics to deter offenders including intelligence-led patrols by uniformed police officers and plain clothes detectives. As part of this initiative, BTP has published video clips on its website and leaflets to help passengers spot the most common tricks thieves use.
2.7 Two other crime types which have seen slight increases over the last five years are Common Assault and Aggravated Racial Harassment. There has been a 6% increase in the number of common assaults from 3,632 in 2009/10 to 3,832 in 2012/13 (although there is a forecast reduction by 2% to 3,749 offences for 2013/14).
2.8 The number of racially aggravated offences has fluctuated since 2009. Projected figures for 2013/14 show that offences are likely to see a 13% increase (which equals to 134 crimes). The detection rate for racially aggravated crimes has remained stable since 2009, averaging a 54% detection rate. Detections are predicted to increase this policing period by 4%. Approximately 11% of racially aggravated crime has taken place at the ticket barriers and 29% on trains so far in 2013/14, many against train staff engaged in on board revenue protection duty. Local targets are also set to drive activity in this area, London Underground Area, for example, has a racially aggravated detection target for 2013/14, which encourages staff to report racially aggravated offences and so increase detections.
2.9 The overall percentage of passengers who rate their security as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ in the Autumn 2012 wave of this survey was 77%, and the latest survey (Autumn 2013) gave a rating of 76%. These are the highest ratings for many years, improving from a range of 68-69% in 2008-09. Together with its industry partners BTP regularly analyses the information from the National Passenger Survey and its own consultation processes to identify the factors that influence passenger perceptions of crime on the railway network.
2.10 Different factors can impact on passenger perceptions at different locations; these include the overall station environment (e.g. lighting, signage, provision of shelter facilities) and the availability of staff (including the presence of police) and evidence of anti-social behaviour.
2.11 BTP, in implementing the Strategic Plan 2013/19 together with its industry partners, is committed to increasing public confidence when it comes to the use of the railway network. The developing operating model necessary to implement the strategy will mean that more uniformed officers will be available to patrol at stations and on trains when the public feel most vulnerable – these late night deployments will provide a visible presence to reassure passengers and reduce the fear of crime.
2.12 BTP, working in partnership with the railway industry, has also reduced the amount of minutes lost to disruption that can be influenced by police activity. Across the areas of vandalism, cable theft, level crossing misuse, fatalities and trespass it is predicted that there will have been a 13% reduction between 2008-09 by the end of 2013-14.
3. What steps are train operators and Network Rail taking to reduce crime and perceptions of crime.
3.1 BTP integrates its planning processes with those of the industry in order to optimise deployed resources and prevent crime and disruption by influencing the design and build of railway infrastructure. The work with Network Rail on level crossings is an example. Early engagement in the franchise process enables potential bidders to understand BTP’s capability and deployment in order to optimise the considerable investment they make in safety and security of passengers staff and freight. Early involvement in infrastructure design and build enables BTP to offer professional advice in relation to safer station accreditation and secure car park schemes which are introduced against nationally recognised standards for safety and security.
3.2 In addition, BTP is able to enter into Enhanced Police Service Agreements with the industry to deliver specific capabilities or higher levels of service such as Emergency Response Units, the policing of HS1 or Neighbourhood Policing Teams.
3.3 In developing the annual Policing Plan which articulates the operational delivery of the strategy, BTP and BTPA consult extensively with the industry at all levels. Issues and risks are raised such as alcohol-fuelled antisocial behaviour and problem solving plans are worked up at the operating level to address these. Whilst there has been considerable success in working with the industry in applying proportionate bans on alcohol being consumed on trains, the Force’s ability to influence the licensing of premises on railway property is constrained by reason of the Chief Constable of BTP not being considered in law an ‘appropriate authority’ to be consulted in considering applications for licences. This is but one legislative anomaly and it reduces BTP’s power to prevent alcohol-fuelled behaviour and increases the policing effort required when for example policing the night time economy housed in railway property as in Leeds.
3.4 BTP’s problem solving approach at all levels enables it to respond with the industry to counter issues that arise with little warning, for example sudden increases in bike theft or vandalism can be swiftly addressed.
4. The role of the BTP in reducing crime, including whether BTP’s current strategic plan is sufficiently challenging and whether BTP has sufficient resources to deliver the plan.
4.1 BTP’s role in reducing crime is reflected in its transport policing ethos which enables it to provide national ‘end-to-end’ policing of Britain’s railway network, unique to policing and underpinned by its acute commercial awareness of the operating environment. BTP officers are trained and experienced in the specialist skills that are required to operate in a hazardous environment and display behaviours which underpin their commitment to the delivery of a safe, secure, reliable and expanding transport system.
4.2 BTP’s officers are responsive and customer focused, recognising the impact of their actions and assisting industry colleagues to minimise disruption to the railways. They are effective risk managers, making critical decisions using evidence based methodologies and are committed to reducing disruption to the network service, without compromising their duty to protect and serve the public. These behaviours are important to the industry and are routinely exercised in a way that is entirely consistent with the police service’s code of ethics and standards of professional behaviour.
4.3 Further to the trend in crime reduction mentioned in section 2 above, BTP, in partnership with the former eight Scottish forces, the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland (ACPOS) and railway operators has reduced crime on the Scottish railway network by 56% since 2005 (compared to a reduction in crime of 38% across Scotland nationally).
4.4 BTP’s 2013/19 Strategic Plan was produced after extensive consultation with TfL, the rail industry, Passenger Transport Executives and passengers. Indeed it was the rail industry that encouraged the Authority together with BTP to set what are, within the industry and elsewhere, considered ambitious targets in the context of a growing railway network and the reduction in crime achieved in the last decade.
4.5 Set against a projected demand from 145,000 incidents requiring police attendance, and growth in passenger numbers of between 5 to 7% per year (in part because of Crossrail and the Thameslink upgrade) together with a forecast four million journeys into London every day by 2025 (and across the country an estimated 90% growth in long distance journeys by 2034); a target until 2019 that aims to keep the transport system running against a 20% reduction in lost minutes together with a further 20% reduction in crime should be viewed as a challenge.
4.6 The third strategic objective is to enable the industry to promote a 10% increase in passenger confidence. This will be achieved by BTP ensuring that police resources are deployed as effectively as possible to maximise time spent on patrols where they are most needed (including uniformed patrols on late night trains) and measuring the outcomes through the National Passenger Survey.
4.7 In determining these three strategic objectives, BTPA and BTP exercised professional judgement in the necessary improvement to make a material difference to the industry and passengers. The level of ambition requires BTP to develop a new operating model which reinforces its close relationship with industry. To do so whilst holding costs to within less than an RPI uplift further increases the ambition.
4.8 BTPA and BTP are confident that, subject to there being no change to the current terrorist threat level in the UK or other unforeseen event, and given the opportunity to reinvest money released through the closer alignment and rationalisation of operating and business support functions to increase BTP’s policing capability, the strategic objectives will be achieved and the necessary behaviours to do so embedded.
5. Relationships between BTP and train operators and Network Rail, and BTP’s accountability to the Department for Transport (DfT) and to Parliament.
5.1 The health of relationships between BTP and train operators (including TfL and Network Rail) is demonstrated by the operational outcomes and confirmed by an annual third party survey with the industry leadership.
5.2 At a strategic level there is effective engagement through the consultative strategic planning process with annual workshops attended by the rail industry as well as activity on a more regular basis through the Rail Delivery Group and its working parties including ATOC, at which joint work streams are identified and resources allocated to ensure effective outcomes are achieved which demonstrate value for money.
5.3 Examples of this close working relationship in an operational context can be found in the joint approach to tackling disruption from conductive metal theft as well as the pioneering work which has been undertaken in the prevention of suicide by the public on the railway which has broadened the partnership to include engagement by the National Health Service and joint training programmes with agencies such as the Samaritans and academic institutions including Oxford University. In May 2013 the effectiveness of the Suicide Prevention Team and strategy was publicly acknowledged by Lord Victor Adebowale’s Independent Commission on Mental Health and Policing.
5.4 BTPA, a NDPB, is responsible through its Chairman to the Secretary of State for Transport for securing and maintaining an efficient and effective police service. The Chief Constable is accountable to the Authority for the performance of BTP and adhering to the budget and strategy jointly set by the Authority. BTPA is responsible for defraying the cost of policing the railways and raises revenue from the rail industry through police service agreements to do so. There is a cascade of written delegations from the DfT Accounting Officer, to the Authority’s Accounting Office, the BTPA Chief Executive who delegates the authority to spend the agreed budget to the Chief Constable as Additional Accounting Officer. Compliance with these delegations is audited by the NAO annually and the BTPA’s internal audit programme. The Authority publishes annual accounts for the BTP fund and these are laid before Parliament each year having been certified by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
5.5 The Officers of the Authority together with Chief Officers from BTP have regular meetings with the DfT. Past reviews of BTPA and BTP have concluded that the current accountability arrangements remain fit for purpose as has the draft 2013/14 DfT Triennial Review of the BTPA.
6. Collaboration and partnership working between BTP and other police forces and the Home Office.
6.1 BTP engages fully at a strategic and operational level with all other UK police forces and the Home Office. This was most strikingly evidenced during the terrorist attacks on London in 2005 and BTP’s role in helping to keep London running in the most testing circumstances and subsequently in providing counter-terrorist policing to Britain’s railway network. More routinely the Authority and Force play a full part in Home Office initiatives such as the College of Policing and the police ICT company.
6.2 Nationally, BTP has focused collaboration on key strategic and policing priorities, for example, the National Metal Theft Task Force Programme (NMTTP) Fusion Intelligence Unit has secured over £3.4m in funding for a variety of projects and operations and over £370,000 external funding has been received for 2013-14. BTP recorded metal theft crime is 49% lower overall comparing April to January 2013 to the same period in 2011/12.
6.3 BTP works in partnership with other police forces across England, Scotland and Wales in policing of football and other major events. BTP deploys officers (based on the category of the match determined by a nationally recognised risk assessment process) to police the stations and/or routes for fixture days for Premier, Championship and Scottish Premiership league games each year. A total of 1,109 fixtures were played over 260 days from August 2012 to June 2013 in these leagues in which BTP shared intelligence, risk assessments and joint deployments resulting in no major disruption or serious incident to the railway network occurring.
March 2014