POLICE and transport staff are joining forces to clamp down on crime across Nottingham's public transport system this week.
In a hard-hitting day of action, on Friday, March 18, 2005, 25 police officers will back up staff on the city's NCT bus and NET tram lines in a co-ordinated effort to prevent fare avoidance, bus lane offences, anti-social behaviour and other crimes.
The operation, titled Operation Start (Safer Transport and Respect for Transport) is being entirely funded by the Home Office Anti-Social Behaviour Unit at a cost of nearly £4,000
On the NET tram system, inspectors will be boarding every tram as they pass through selected stops known as ‘Gateways.'
All passengers will be requested to show their tickets and anyone without a valid ticket will be requested to buy one or leave the tram. Inspectors will also be demonstrating a zero-tolerance attitude to anti-social behaviour such as abusive language or wrongful alcohol use on trams.
Colin Lea , marketing manager of NET said "We will not tolerate any form of antisocial or criminal behaviour on the tram and fare evaders will not get a free ride on the system. Action will be taken against such people and we are particularly pleased to be teaming up with the police and NCT as a partnership against this kind of unacceptable behaviour."
On NCT bus routes, three key bus corridors will also be targeted as ‘Gateways' and buses travelling along these routes will be checked.
Inspector Ben Crane, of Central Area Command at Nottingham police, warned offenders that offences such as fare dodging or ticket forgery would be regarded as criminal offences liable for prosecution. And officers would also be prepared to use new powers to hand out £80 on-the-spot fines as a punishment for disruptive behaviour.
"If someone is caught without a ticket by a ticket inspector and is using any threatening or insulting behaviour, we can hand out an £80 Penalty Notice for Disorder," he said. "We will also be looking out for photocopies of travel tickets. Such tickets are forgeries and we will be seeking to prosecute those caught."
Operation Start is being staged as part of the Respect for Transport campaign, which is improving the safety of public transport in Nottingham and is backed by Nottingham City Council, NCT, NET, JD Decaux, Greater Nottingham Transport Partnership's the Big Wheel and Nottinghamshire Police.
Gary Smerdon-White, of GNTP, said: “We know that public transport is already safe for most people most of the time; Respect for Transport aims to make public transport safer and more secure for everyone all of the time by stamping out violence and anti-social behaviour, and by bringing offenders to justice.
As part of Operation Start, police officers will also be on hand to support transport staff so that they can go about their jobs in safety.
Between April and December last year, there were 40 assaults, of which 19 resulted in no physical injury and were mostly spitting incidents against NCT staff. There were also many incidents of bus damage and graffiti that caused the company more than £100,000 to rectify.
On average, five tram staff are also physically assaulted and ten verbally assaulted each month.
As well as patrolling buses and trams, police and transport staff will be looking out for motorists who use bus lanes illegally and checking for fare-dodgers on NCT buses. Motorists stopped in bus lanes face a £30 fixed penalty ticket or court summons.
For obvious reasons, neither the bus lanes nor the patrolled bus routes are being named in advance of the operation.
Mark Fowles , managing director of Nottingham City Transport, stated: “This is another first in the Respect for Transport campaign in making travelling on public transport safer and more reliable. It is not acceptable use bus lanes or evade fares as these are to the detriment of other passengers. I believe these ‘Gateway' checks, implemented in partnership with the police, the council and other operators will begin to send loud and clear messages to offenders and eradicate anti-social behaviour. We look forward to the results and if successful the partnership aims to repeat this type of activity on a regular basis.”
Police point to the on-going success of campaigns such as Operation Safer Travel in the West Midlands as an example of how criminal activity can be prevented on public transport through co-ordinated action.
In February this year, 1,438 passengers on Travel West Midlands buses were found to be cheating the company's fare system and 376 Travel Cards were withdrawn for further investigation. Fifteen people were also arrested for a variety of offences.
Insp Crane said research suggested that a percentage of fare-dodgers were guilty of other criminal offences. If so, any caught in Nottingham would be duly investigated. “Criminals don't turn into law-abiding citizens the moment they get onto a bus or tram,” he said
Insp Crane added: “The overall aim of Operation Start is to make public transport in Nottingham safer, more comfortable and more attractive to residents and visitors alike. And that is also the aim of Respect for Transport.” |
