Crimes Against Passengers: Theft, Robbery
& Assaults
This guide deals with crimes committed against
rail, underground and bus passengers by members of the public.
It focuses on four categories of crime: theft from passengers;
robbery; assault; and indecent assault. Apart from the
potentially serious financial, psychological and physical
impact on the victim, these crimes contribute to heightened
fear among passengers and can lead to a decrease in patronage.
Decreased patronage impacts upon operators’ revenues and can
impact upon actual levels of safety on the system.
This guide is separated into three parts. Part
I reviews what is known about these four categories of crime
from research and practice in the rail, underground and bus
environments. Part II presents a series of questions to assist
you in analysing your local situation, and provides guidance
on measuring the effectiveness of your response. Finally, Part
III reviews responses to these crimes and provides guidance on
how they work and the conditions in which they are most
effective. Your challenge will be to conduct a good analysis
of the local problem, put together a combination of innovative
responses based on this analysis, and evaluate and monitor
your response.
| Note: Throughout this guide
crimes are considered under their legal categories.
However, for the purposes of prevention, it is more
important to group crimes according to the method used
to commit the crime and the circumstances surrounding
the commission of the crime. For example, bag snatches
without force are classified as thefts, whereas bag
snatches involving force may be classified as robberies.
Although separate crimes, the methods used to commit
them and the circumstances surrounding them are similar
and it is likely that some of the same responses will
address both problems. Although this guide identifies
general categories of crime within these legal
categories, such as stealth thefts and snatch thefts
under the heading of theft, your categories will need to
be highly specific. For example, researchers examining
police robbery records for a south London Underground
station identified a number of different incidents
including a passenger hold-up by an armed robber, the
snatching of a chain prior to the closing of the
carriage doors and school students picking on other
students and stealing items (Webb and Laycock, 1992).
Responses developed to address highly specific
categories of crime, such as these, are most likely to
be effective. |
Related Problems
Thefts, robberies, assaults and indecent
assaults committed against passengers are only a few of the
many crime and disorder problems that public transport
management and police must address. Related problems include:
-
crimes committed against passengers by
transport personnel;
-
robbery of employees;
-
assaults or indecent assaults on employees
(assaults on employees is dealt with in the first guide in
this series); and
-
harassment or sexual harassment of
employees.
Understanding Theft,
Robbery, Assault and Indecent Assault
Understanding Your
Local Problem
Responding to Theft,
Robbery, Assault and Indecent Assault
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