Violent crime on the railways increases
Violent crime has risen by almost 12 per cent on Britain’s railways, police have revealed.
The British Transport Police (BTP) responded to 9,748 cases of violent crime over the course of 2004, many of which were alcohol-related.
But the total number of offences on the railways fell by two per cent.
Transport police are now questioning the wisdom of government’s planned extension to drinking hours, while unions are calling for an increased police and staff presence at stations.
However the government has rejected the idea that later pub opening times will necessarily lead to an increase alcohol-fuelled violence.
BTP chief constable Ian Johnston told BBC News: “We flag crimes that have an alcohol connection. So if we arrest a burglar or a robber who’s drunk we flag the crime.
“And we’ve had about a 30 per cent increase in that level of flagging across the force over the last year.”
He expressed concern that extending licensing hours would lead to police resources being overstretched.
The Conservatives said that the figures were further evidence the government had “lost control” of the alcohol-related crime. Drink and drugs spokeswoman, Cheryl Gillan, said “things will get even worse” when 24-hour drinking started later this year.
But the government said the new licensing regime could actually reduce alcohol-related problems.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport told politics.co.uk that flexible opening hours would mean less people on the streets at the same time, which could help to reduce incidents of violence.
“Alcohol-related crime is a problem today,” the spokeswoman said. “The new licensing laws could help to address this problem.”
Violent crime on the railways rose by 23 per cent in Wales and by 11 per cent in England, though in Scotland it fell by two per cent.
The figures did not include the recent London bombings, but the BTP said it was attentive to the danger of future attacks and was training officers to deal with the threat.
In response to the figures Britain’s biggest rail union, the Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT), has called for more uniformed staff to be put on stations to ensure staff safety.
“It is deeply disturbing that violence on the railways is still on the increase,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said.
“We need adequate staff on every station all the time they are open and a guard on every train, including on the tube.”
