The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (February 2012)

Transit police are a specialized police agency or unit employed by a common carrier, which could be a transit district, railroad, bus line, other transport carrier, or the state. Their mandate is to prevent and investigate crimes committed against the carrier or by or against passengers or other customers of the carrier, or those committed on the carrier's property.

A transit police force may consist of officers employed directly by a transit system, such as the Amtrak Police, or it may exist as a specialized unit of a local police force, such as the Transit Police Services Bureau of the Orange County, California Sheriff's Department, which serves the Orange County Transportation Authority or South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service^[1] which serves the transit system of southern British Columbia, Canada.

Where the term "transit police" is used for the police working for a railroad, it usually refers to a railroad providing urban mass transit (such as a city elevated system or subway) as opposed to long-distance rail carriage. Police who work either for a private non-passenger railroad or long-haul rail carrier are usually referred to as "railroad police" or "railway police". In Britain, most of the rail system, including the London Underground, is policed by a national transport police agency, the British Transport Police. Some transit police departments have full policing powers,such as BART Police or SEPTA Transit Police or Utah Transit Authority Police Department, while in other areas, they have limited powers and are classed as special police or special constables with limited powers.

Some of the crimes transit police and railroad police investigate include trespassing on the right-of-way of a railroad, assaults against passengers, tagging of graffiti on railroad rolling stock and buses or bus stops, pickpocketing, ticket fraud, robbery and theft of personal belongings, baggage or freight, and drug dealing at transit stations.

Jurisdiction and authority[link]

Federal and state statutes determine the jurisdiction and authority of all police departments, including transit police. Most transit police departments have the same police authority as any other federal state and local police agencies, such as the British Transport Police, New Jersey Transit Police Department, BART Police, Maryland Transit Administration Police, DART Police, SEPTA Transit Police, Utah Transit Authority Police Department, and the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service have rather extensive jurisdictions, including traffic enforcement, with arrest powers on and off property. Transit and railroad police tend to have better results in finding perpetrators of crimes they investigate than public police forces, possibly due to specialization and smaller case loads.

List of specialised transit/transport police agencies and departments[link]

[edit] Australia

New South Wales

• Commuter Crime Unit, New South Wales Police Force^[2]
• Transit Officers, Rail Corporation New South Wales^[3]

Queensland

• Railway Squad, Queensland Police^[4]
• Transit Officers, Queensland Rail^[5]

South Australia

• Transit Services Branch, South Australia Police (all public transport in Adelaide)^[6]

Victoria

• Transit Safety Division, Victoria Police (predominantly operate in Melbourne)^[7]
• Authorised Officers employed by Public Transport operator companies

Western Australia

• Police Rail Unit, Western Australia Police (operating in Perth)
• Transit Officers, Public Transport Authority of Western Australia

[edit] Canada

Railway police[link]

• Canadian National Railway Police Service
• Canadian Pacific Railway Police Service

Transit police[link]

Because policing is a provincial responsibility, police powers vary in different jurisdictions. With the exception of South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service, who have full policing powers within the province of British Columbia, urban transit police forces are special constabularies with limited policing powers.

• Calgary Transit Public Safety & Enforcement Unit
• South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service
• Société de transport de Montréal (STM) Sureté et Controle Inspecteur
• GO Transit Special Constables
• YRT/Viva Special Constable Services

[edit] China, People's Republic of

Cities in China which have rapid transit systems all have their transit police force associated to the local public security bureau. There isn't any non-governmental police force nor any police institutes under the transit authority, despite the National Rail somehow have a police force under the Ministry of Railways.

However the structure of institutions can be vary from city to city. For example, cities like Tianjin and Chengdu might have a joint public transportation force of division level, operates on all the taxis, bus routes, coaches, rapid transit and ferry lines as well as transportation hubs inside city limit; while Chongqing and Xi'an^[8] have tighter transit cop brigades focused exclusively on protecting the mass transit lines. Again, all these agencies are supervised by the PSBs of higher level.

[edit] France

• Police Régionale des Transports (Police Nationale) (Operates on Suburban trains, and Paris Métro)
• Service National de Police Ferroviaire (Police Nationale-Direction Centrale de la Police aux Frontières) (Operates on main lines trains)
• Service Interdépartemental de Sécurité dans les Transports en Commun (SISTC)(Police Nationale- Direction Centrale de la Sécurité Publique)
• Surveillance Générale (Suge, operates on SNCF railways. This private service, which dépends to SNCF, has restricted police powers)
• Groupe de Protection et de Sécurisation des Réseaux (GPSR, operates on RATP railways. This private service, which dépends to RATP, has restricted police powers)
• Police des Transports de l'Agglo Orléans Val de Loire (Bus,Tramway,SNCF)

[edit] Germany

• former German Democratic Republic: Transportpolizei
• Federal Republic of Germany: Bahnpolizei

[edit] Hong Kong

• Railway District, Hong Kong Police Force

[edit] India

• Railway Protection Force
• Government Railway Police

[edit] Italy

• Railway Police (Polizia Ferroviaria), Polizia di Stato

[edit] Netherlands

• Railway Police Service (Dienst Spoorwegpolitie), Dutch National Police (Korps Landelijke Politiediensten)

[edit] Russian Federation

Departament of order in transportations of Russian Federation interior ministry . (Russian: Департамент обеспечения порядка на транспорте МВД РФ)

[edit] Singapore

• Public Transport Security Command, Singapore Police Force

[edit] Sweden

• "Tunnelbanepolisen" ("Subway Police"), Swedish Police Service

[edit] Taiwan

• National Police Agency, Railway Police: Railway Police Bureau, MRT Police Taipei City Police Department Rapid Transit Division, Kaohsiung City Police Department Rapid Transit Division

[edit] United Kingdom

• British Transport Police (national railways in Great Britain, London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, Midland Metro, Tramlink, Tyne and Wear Metro - Sunderland extension, Glasgow Subway)
• Metrolink Unit, Greater Manchester Police
• Transport Operational Command Unit, Metropolitan Police (buses and taxis in London)
• Metro Unit, Northumbria Police

[edit] United States

• Amtrak Police
• Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Police Department
• Greater Cleveland Transit Police Department
• Metro Transit Police Department, King County Sheriff's Office
• Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) Police Force
• Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Transit Police Department
• Metra Police Department (Chicago)
• MetroLink Unit, St. Louis County Police Department
• Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Police Department
• Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) Transit Police Department
• Napa Valley Railroad Police Department
• New Jersey Transit Police Department
• New York City Police Department Transit Bureau (New York City Subway)
• New York City Transit Police - (Merged into the NYPD in 1995)
• New York MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police
• New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Police Department
• Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority Transit Police Department
• Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District Transit Police Department (South Shore Line)
• OCTA-Transit Police Services Bureau, Orange County Sheriff's Department
• Public Transportation Section, Chicago Police Department
• Port Authority of Allegheny County Police and Security Services Department
• Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department (responsible for PATH)
• San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District Police Department
• Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) Police Department
• State of New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department
• Transit Services Bureau, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
• Washington Metro Transit Police Department
• Union Pacific Police Department
• Utah Transit Authority Police Department

See also[link]

• 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings
• 1995 Paris Metro bombing
• 2004 Madrid train bombings
• 2006 Madrid Barajas International Airport bombing
• 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings
• 7 July 2005 London bombings
• 21 July 2005 London bombings
• Public transport
• Public transport security
• Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway
• Security on the Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
• September 11 attacks
• USS Cole bombing

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.gvtaps.bc.ca
2. ^ http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/community_issues/transport_safety
3. ^ http://www.cityrail.info/travelling_with/safety_and_education/safe_and_secure
4. ^ http://www.police.qld.gov.au/Resources/Internet/join/documents/LR_Railway_Squad160709.pdf
5. ^ http://www.queenslandrail.com.au/RailServices/City/SafetySecurity/Pages/SecurityStaff.aspx
6. ^ http://www.sapolice.sa.gov.au/sapol/about_us/structure/operations_support_service/transit_services_branch.jsp
7. ^ http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?document_id=267
8. ^ "西安市公安局地铁分局挂牌成立". 陕西省人民政府. 2011年8月2日. http://www.shaanxi.gov.cn/0/1/9/42/104803.htm. Retrieved 2011年8月22日.