On Tuesday 24th May 2005 between 4.30 and 8pm, Bisto the sniffer dog worked in transport hubs at the station and the Old Market Square with over 20 police officers checking passengers using the bus, tram and train.
Bisto and his handler, mingled with passengers as they waited for, or alighted from public transport, during this period Bisto made 38 positive identities which subsequently lead to 2 arrests.
This was the third Respect for Transport gateway check in as many months, with both police forces (Notts & BTP) working closely with public transport operators in a co-ordinated effort to detect drugs, eliminate anti-social behaviour, fare avoidance and other crimes.
The aim of the partnership is to reduce crime on public transport, to protect operating staff and to send out strong messages to offenders, thus improving passenger perceptions of safety whilst travelling on public transport.
Inspector Ben Crane from Nottinghamshire Police stated “We were very pleased to work with the British Transport Police and their passive drugs dog, this type of operation has proved, is a very effective way of identifying many anti-social offenders who use public transport. It sends very visible signals to these passengers that it is not acceptable to use or smoke drugs on public transport, we will continue to work together to eradicate anti-social behaviour on buses, trams and trains in the city.”
Following the success of the passive drugs dog exercise, it is planned to repeat this action again in the near future.
The Respect for Transport campaign is backed by NCT, NET, Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire Police, the British Transport Police, Greater Nottingham Transport Partnership’s the Big Wheel, Nottinghamshire County Council and JD Decaux.
|
