Railroad Police Patch
Alysa Guillama
Railroad police or railway police are people responsible for the protection of railroad (or railway) properties, facilities, revenue, equipment (train cars and locomotives), and personnel, as well as carried passengers and cargo. Railroad police may also patrol public rail transit systems.
Their exact roles differ from country to country. In some countries, the powers of railroad police are no different from any other sworn law enforcement officer, while in others they are more like security guards. Some are also given extensive additional authority, while those in other jurisdictions are more restricted. In the United States and Canada, railroad police are employed by the major Class I railroads, as well as some smaller ones. In other countries, this work is typically done by territorial police forces rather than specialized agencies. In the United Kingdom, railways fall under the jurisdiction of the British Transport Police, a national transit police force that is responsible for policing all railways and some public transit systems in Britain.
The Brazilian's Federal Railroad Police was created in 1852 by decree of the emperor Dom Pedro II, making it the oldest police agency in Brazil. There are[when?] some proposals in the Brazilian Senate to reactivate this police agency, as it is considered important to national security.
Canadian railways, like those of the United States, aided in nation-building and brought new police agencies into existence. Railway constables are given full police powers within 500 meters of property that the railway company owns, possesses or administers.[1] The Canadian Pacific Railway initially relied on the Dominion Police, and later the North-West Mounted Police during construction of the transcontinental railroad, but by the later 1880s were employing their own police.
The large numbers of navvies recruited to build the railways brought security problems for rail companies. In 1900, the CPR established its Special Service Department. It worked closely with municipal, federal, and provincial police and given a mandate to prevent and investigate pilferage, theft, vandalism, and sabotage as well as policing strikes. The CPR Special Service were also responsible for closely guarding Chinese workers, who were considered "detainees" and virtually treated as prisoners under the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885. The Special Service was dissolved in 1904, following a scandal involving the business practices of a CPR Labour Department agent in Montreal, but was resurrected in 1913 as the railway's Department of Investigation.[2]
The Canadian Pacific Police Service, Canadian National Police Service, and VIA Rail Canada Police Service are the only federal railway police services operating in Canada. Police officers for the railways are federally sworn under the Railway Safety Act.[1] This act allows a superior court (federal) judge to appoint a person as a police constable. These officers are employed by the railway and are in place strategically within Canada's rail infrastructure with a primary focus on reducing deaths and injuries along each railway's network of operations. These officers typically work on investigations involving criminal and provincial violations, such as traffic enforcement and accident investigations, and working to educate the public about the dangers of rail operations and consequences that can result from complacency.
These police officers are also appointed or sworn provincially to provide additional police powers as it relates to each province's interest. The primary jurisdictional police are still responsible for all law enforcement in their jurisdiction, and due to reduced manpower and coverage the railway police are considered a secondary response agency. Often the primary jurisdictional police are required to deal with matters that occur on or in relation to railway property. Depending on the seriousness of the incident, railway police may assume jurisdiction, though due to their reduced numbers and capabilities they may require local police to assume control over an incident and act in a supporting role. Railway police also support local police at incidents not in relation to the railway.
Other large Canadian transit networks use security officers appointed as special constables or peace officers. As special constables, they typically have full police powers when working on transit property to enforce the Criminal Code of Canada, as well as respective Bylaws. Whilst they carry some police equipment, such as a protective vest, baton, handcuffs and pepper spray, they do not carry a firearm. These officers assist local jurisdiction's police officers in investigations of illegal activity on the transit system.
The railroad police of PRC can be considered as the only civil police force under the command of an agency of central government, more precisely the MoR. Its branches distribute in parallel to the railway bureaus of MoR, and for a period of time, it was considered its subsidiary, since the "railway bureau" is an entity of mixed nature: as a government agency as well as a corporation. Consequently, some railroad police agency will cover several regions of operation on a provincial level. For example, the division level Tianjin railroad police force will answer to the prefecture level Beijing railroad police bureau, despite the fact that regular police force of Tianjin is collateral to its Beijing equivalence. While supervised by the Ministry of Public Security, the force was funded exclusively by MoR itself,[5] therefore often was criticized for protecting corporate interest under MoR. Since it is prevalent in PRC that local police force was conscripted as a private army of individuals, such criticism actually reflects the dispute between local and central government at some level.
Bahnschutzpolizei was the railroad police of Nazi Germany. It was tasked with railway safety and also with preventing espionage and sabotage of railway property. It was not subordinated to Hauptamt Ordnungspolizei, only the Deutsche Reichsbahn.
Bahnpolizei was the name of the former Railway police of West Germany and fell under the jurisdiction of the Deutsche Bundesbahn federal railway company. Bahnpolizei officers investigated trespassing on rail property, assaults against passengers, terrorism threats targeting the railway, arson, tagging of graffiti on railroad rolling stock or buildings, signal vandalism, pickpocketing, ticket fraud, robbery, and theft of personal belongings, baggage, or freight. They also investigated train/vehicle collisions and hazardous materials releases.
In 1992 the railway security mission was transferred to the Bundesgrenzschutz which resulted in the merger of the Bahnpolizei into the Federal Border Guard Force. The BGS had already taken on these duties in 1990 for the territory of the former East Germany, replacing the former East German Transportpolizei. The Bundesgrenzschutz was then renamed the Bundespolizei (Federal Police) on July 1, 2005, and this force is currently responsible for security and passenger checks on the German railway system.
The protection of Indian Railways is carried out by the Railway Protection Force and the Government Railway Police.The Mission of the Railway Protection Force includes to protect and safeguard railway passengers, passenger area and railway propertyand also to ensure the safety, security and boost the confidence of the traveling public in the Indian Railways.
Polsuska (Indonesian: Polisi Khusus Kereta Api or Railroad Special Police) is a law enforcement unit under the auspices of the Indonesian Railway Company. Polsuska in its role as a special railroad police is tasked to: apply sanctions in accordance with legislation and implement security, prevention of crime, and prevent non-justice actions within the scope of the Indonesian railways as a partner of the national police. Polsuska has the responsibilities relating to law and order including security of railway stations and train users. Polsuska officers wear black as their uniform and wear orange berets pulled to the left. Polsuska is trained by but not part of the Indonesian National Police. Polsuska is under the command of the Indonesian Railway Company's Directorate of Safety and Security.[6]
The Commuter Lines which serve Greater Jakarta maintains its own security force which are categorized as security guards, their uniform are light-brown and wear orange vest and are known as (Petugas Keamanan Dalam/PKD). These are not part of Polsuska.[7]
Every railway station in Indonesia also operates several security guards to assist Polsuska in the field of law and order including security. During peak seasons such as during the last days of Ramadan and other national holidays, Polsuska may be assisted by members from the military and police to provide additional security presence within the Indonesian Railways.[8]
Policing of Italian State Railways (Ferrovie dello Stato) is carried out by the Polizia Ferroviaria, a branch of Italy's national police force (Polizia di Stato) operating under the authority of the Minister of the Interior.
The MVD Transport Department protects the rail system in Russia. The police is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and is responsible for protecting the railway, checking train quality, and maintaining railway safety in the Russian Federation.[10]
Switzerland never had a separate transport police because all rail employees had limited police authority. However, due to the introduction of trains with no conductors in the late 1990s, crime in trains increased and the Swiss Federal Railways rail company trained Bahnpolizei officers for its driver-only commuter trains.
In 2002 the SBB-CFF-FFS merged its Bahnpolizei force with the private security company Securitas AG and the resulting Securitrans is now a separate security agency protecting railroad infrastructures.
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