Bus crime down as task force targets offenders

Every district in the West Midlands saw a drop in bus crime with Sandwell, Dudley, Solihull, Coventry and Walsall experiencing falls of at least 44 per cent. Safer Travel, which works to make bus travel even safer for passengers by deterring crime and anti-social behaviour, said the reduction showed how the team’s operations and increasing expertise since its launch three years ago were proving successful. The team’s ever growing intelligence database was also helping to pinpoint crime hotspots and persistent offenders. The figures released by Safer Travel, a partnership between West Midlands Police, Birmingham Community Safety Partnership, bus operator National Express West Midlands and Centro, the region’s passenger transport body, show a major fall in bus related crime between April and December last year compared to the same period in 2006.

Sandwell and Solihull saw the biggest drop with 46 per cent, closely followed by Dudley (45 per cent); Coventry (45 per cent); Walsall (44 per cent); Birmingham (19 per cent) and Wolverhampton (15 per cent).

Inspector Ian Grundy from the Safer Travel Police Team said: "These figures show that thanks to the hard work of the Safer Travel partnership we are deterring crime and making the bus network even safer for passengers.

"We will persist to work hard and build on this success - to reduce crime even further both on board buses and at stops and shelters. This means working closely with our partners and local Neighbourhood Teams and continuing to act on the vital intelligence provided to us by bus operators and, crucially, the travelling public.

"It is thanks to this information that we have been able to target crime hotspots and run successful operations which have contributed to this reduction in crime."

Operations have involved a whole range of tactics including high visibility police patrols, using mobile CCTV cameras in police hats, deploying a specially trained drugs sniffer dog to check passengers and mounting covert surveillance at crime hot spots.

Since April last year, the Safer Travel team has increased its collection of intelligence on anti-social behaviour and is now using this data to mount operations against offenders. The team has also been working with schools to raise awareness among pupils about personal safety and the effects of antisocial behaviour and crime.

Cllr Jon Hunt, lead member for bus and highways on Centro, said: "It's great to see the West Midlands Safer Travel project, which is the largest of its kind outside London, making a difference to the comfort of passengers.

"The ambition now is to build on this and reassure travellers that antisocial behaviour and petty nuisance on public transport will be dealt with."