Oxford BTP office reopens

[willc]

BTP press release:

PASSENGERS TO BENEFIT AS BTP OFFICERS MOVE INTO OXFORD STATION
 

Passengers using Oxford rail station will benefit from an increased police presence after the introduction of a dedicated new British Transport Police (BTP) team at the station.

Six BTP officers will form the new team, dedicated to policing the rail network from Charlbury, through Oxford and down to Reading.

Members of the public can meet the team at the official launch on Friday, 28 January, which will be attended by Chief Superintendent Mark Smith, Area Commander for BTP’s London North Area, First Great Western Director of Communications Sue Evans and Nicola Blackwood, MP for Oxford West & Abingdon.

Ch Supt Smith said: "I’m pleased that the Oxford team is now established as it means my officers can spend even more time on their patch tackling crime and getting to know their local community, who will know where to find them.

“The new office will act as a base for my team to continue protecting and serving passengers and staff, as well as working closely with the rail industry to make the network as safe as possible.

“I’m keen for passengers who use Oxford and the surrounding stations to contact the team to discuss any issues or concerns they have, although it will be best to call ahead and arrange a time as officers may be out of the office on patrol.”

The re-opening of the office will create a visible presence in an area that is seeing an increase in passenger numbers and a rise in new services, and was supported by First Great Western (FGW) as an extension of the localised policing service.

FGW Director of Communications, Sue Evans, said: “With an annual footfall of 5.2 million, Oxford is one of our busiest stations and we worked hard to get a dedicated BTP team for the area.

"We’re delighted to be able to accommodate the BTP officers at Oxford Station, and will continue to work together to provide a secure environment for our customers.”

The Oxford team is led by Sergeant Adrian Naylor and also includes two PCs and three PCSOs. The team can be contacted by calling 07917 177 736.


BTP's team will be holding a passenger surgery at Oxford station from 11am on Friday, 28 January.

[SDS pad]

6 Officers hmm, allowing for time off, sickness, sleep, etc. That will leave around 1 or 2 on duty. Yeah thats going to make a whole load of difference isn't it!
Prob find out that 4 of them are the waste of space PCSO types.

[IndustryInsider]

6 Officers hmm, allowing for time off, sickness, sleep, etc. That will leave around 1 or 2 on duty. Yeah thats going to make a whole load of difference isn't it!
Prob find out that 4 of them are the waste of space PCSO types.

If you read the press release it tells you that 3 are PCSO's.

[readytostart]

6 Officers hmm, allowing for time off, sickness, sleep, etc. That will leave around 1 or 2 on duty. Yeah thats going to make a whole load of difference isn't it!
Prob find out that 4 of them are the waste of space PCSO types.

This is the second time that you've posted something wholly disrepectful to the officers of the BTP on here, how the public are supposed to have faith in them when some staff are so dismissive is beyond me.

Sure it may take BTP while to respond, this is because compared to local forces they have a far greater geographical area to cover, surely moving officers back to Oxford is addressing this. (I'm guessing the nearest BTP stations would be Reading, Swindon or Worcester).
Using PCSOs in unison with Constables allows a cost saving compared to using Police officers alone (the BTP paid for by the industry - and therefore farepayers rather than the government). They have the power to inforce fixed penalties, enforce byelaws and to detain (and are one of only two forces in the country to issue PCSOs with handcuffs to do so).
Despite the opinion that the BTP are never about and that local forces need to be called in, the ACPO estimate that the BTP are called upon approximately 8000 times a year to intervene in incidents outside of their natural jurisdiction.
I personally feel a lot safer knowing that my request for assistance is not being prioritised against catching speeders, domestics and pub fights.

[johoare]

I agree... I have nothing but praise for BTP (I know I posted it at the time) but when I left my purse on a train they called me at home within minutes of it arriving at Reading (without me  )..

[Brucey]

I (fortunately) haven't had any experiences where I've needed the BTP.  However I'd much rather have smaller offices dotted around the network (like Oxford) where the officers are more familiar the area and the local troublemakers rather than have larger offices where more travelling is required to attend incidents.

[Ollie]

1 or 2 officers on duty at Oxford would be better than none..

[hornbeam]

Good news. 

[SDS pad]

RTS,
BTP still haven't caught the person that pulled a knife on me, despite them being 5 mins away.
PCSOs no longer have the power to report, according to the one that I spoke to a couple of weeks ago, and most of them are less than effective at enforcing bye-laws. You have to tell them what bye-laws you want them kicked out of the station for.

I also once had 2 PCSOs standing right next to me, when a person pushed past me while I was dispatching and grab hold of a door handle while the train was starting to move. What do you think the PCSOs did? Nothing. But it gets better, when I shouted at the person to move away and the door was 'made safe' the person turned to me told me that "I had f**king let that train leave early, and I was a f**king wa**er".
Did the PCSOs do anything? Nope. Despite me asking for him to be detained for S5 PoA. The PCSOs did nothing said nothing and then hung around for the person to leave the platform and then vanished.

Now you wonder why I have such faith in BTP?

[chris from nailsea]

Hmm.  British Transport Police do have a clear and detailed formal complaints process:

Listening and responding to concerns and complaints
We will listen and respond appropriately to concerns and complaints. It is important to increase public confidence in our ability to deal with such issues effectively. If you make a complaint against British Transport Police we will:

demonstrate police accountability
operate to improve standards
be responsive to the complainant’s needs
be just and proportionate
be timely and effective
be open to public scrutiny and sensitive to the public interest

If you would like further information about how to make a complaint – including information about how to make a complaint please go to our Complaints against the Police page.

[SDS pad]

Done that already.
The PCSOs received "words of advice" via the Local Resolution Process.

They're still looking for my knife puller.

[willc]

And probably looking for a lot of other criminals too, like all police forces - current overall detection rate for Thames Valley Police in Oxfordshire is about 25 per cent, though they do better with violence, up near 60 per cent.

Don't know how BTP fare by comparison but I am sure having officers in the county, not having to trek up from Reading, can only be a good thing.

[SDS pad]

You ever had a knife pulled on you?
Do you do a job which you (have to) expect to be abused, threatened, both physically and verbally?
Do you learn not to rely on BTP at ANY time, because they just don't turn up.
Were you even there when I had the knife pulled on me, do you do how I felt?

SDS out.

[willc]

Sorry, but I was making a general point about crime detection, not about your specific case. I wouldn't presume to put myself in your shoes at that moment. And on the odd occasion, yes, I have been abused and threatened in my line of work - though not with a knife.

We know you don't like BTP. But other police forces aren't god-like crime-busting geniuses either, so they might not have done any better catching the knifeman. And they aren't always just round the corner in an emergency either.

[IndustryInsider]

Do we know whether these officers are additional officers or simply officers that were based at Reading or London being transferred to Oxford, who would have been out and about over their patch already?