British Transport Police have launched an operation to combat antisocial behaviour in railway stations and on trains throughout the next few months.
Operation Nightowl will take place on the rail network in Sunderland on Friday 26 November from 20.00 till 00.00, and will aim to tackle anti-social behaviour, low-level disorder and other types of behaviour that generally make people feel unsafe and which are often the pre-cursor for more serious offending.
“While crime across the rail network in Sunderland is low and has been falling year-on-year, Operation Nightowl is aimed at combating the sort of low-level offences which make members of the public and rail staff feel unsafe.
“Being safe and feeling safe are equally important – which is why we are focusing our efforts on putting more police out on patrol on the rail network in Sunderland the evenings and at night,” said British Transport Police Sunderland Sergeant Bob Moody
“We need to be out there protecting them and reassuring all passengers and staff that the railway is really a very safe environment. By putting more police on patrol in the evenings, we are aiming to address some of those anxieties and boost passenger confidence”, Sgt Moody added.
Operation Nightowl is designed to support and complement our day-to-day policing. It consists of a series of over 20 individual operations that have been co-ordinated and planned throughout the area over the next few months. They are all directed at making the transport network safer and reassuring passengers and rail staff that we won’t tolerate this type of behaviour.
Mike Greedy, Passenger Focus manager, said:
“Passengers tell us they generally feel safe on the railway, but having staff available definitely makes a difference - 40% of passengers wanted to see more staff on the train and 36% said they wanted more visible police on board. The British Transport Police’s Operation Nightowl will be welcomed by passengers. ”
For information on the passenger focus research click here - http://www.passengerfocus.org.uk/news-and-publications/document-search/document.asp?dsid=3629