A research project has found that for rail staff with body-worn cameras, the number of assaults is reduced by nearly 50 percent and they have a substantial effect on court outcomes.
The research was carried out jointly by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), British Transport Police (BTP) and the University of Cambridge to prove the effectiveness of Body Worn Video (BWV) in improving staff and customer safety, and showed that cameras were a visible deterrent.
Between 2021 and 2023 rail companies rolled out an extra 4,350 cameras, plans that over 12,200 body-worn cameras should be in use by frontline staff by the end of this month.
Research showed that frontline rail staff over 80% of respondents believed that there should be a 100% deployment of cameras by train operators and Network Rail.
Jacqueline Starr, Chief Executive of Rail Delivery Group, said: “Frontline rail staff provide all sorts of help and advice for our customers every day, and they should never face any kind of abuse.
“This technology is proven to be a powerful deterrent and with this rollout of body-worn video across the railway we hope many more staff will benefit from this protection”
Assistant Chief Constable Charlie Doyle, British Transport Police, said: “Every member of rail staff and member of the public has the right to work and travel safely, and the impact the Body Worn Video project has had in keeping rail staff safe and prosecuting criminals cannot be understated.
“Body-worn video helps to accelerate the judicial process for victims, provide transparency in cases and help rail staff in the many challenging situations they face every single day as well.
“We are dedicated to creating a hostile environment for criminals on the railways, and the continued rollout of BWV across rail operators can only further this ambition.”
“Staff safety is something that the railway takes extremely seriously and is constantly working to improve upon. Rail companies already have stringent measures in place aimed at preventing and addressing instances of violence and, together with BTP, support staff in securing justice when assaults do occur.”
Responses
If there was a regular (and I mean regular) patrol by BT police through passenger vehicles throughout the day I feel sure this would reduce assaults on staff / passengers by another 25% – I find it very reassuring when in Spain the regular patrols by security when on their trains.