We employ Rail Community Officers who work side-by-side with the British Transport Police (BTP) in providing a high profile uniformed presence on our stations and trains.
They have the following remit:
- To deter crime and disorder on the network
- To reassure passengers and employees
- Help reduce crime and the fear of crime
- To help deal with incidents of antisocial behaviour
- To engage with their communities and work to deal with their specific local issues
Rail Community Officers work in “Homebeat” Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPT) and each are responsible for a specific part of the network.
We have depots based at:
- Richmond
- Raynes Park
- Staines
- Guildford
- Portsmouth
- Southampton
- Bournemouth
See a map of our network showing each Homebeat NPT’s area.
Each team has a dedicated ‘embedded’ British Transport Police officer who works alongside the Rail Community Officers in a supporting role. These officers, and their supervisors, are entirely funded by South West Trains.
Rail Community Officers are accredited under the Railway Safety Accreditation Scheme (RSAS) and are easily recognisable as they wear the distinctive RSAS logo shown at the top of this page.
Each Rail Community Officer, in order to gain the ‘Accredited’ status has gone through a thorough training programme, endorsed by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), and a detailed vetting process. As a result of their ‘accredited’ status they have been awarded certain powers by the Chief Constable of the British Transport police. These powers enable them to issue Penalty Notices for Disorder (PND) for certain offences including trespassing and graffiti. The role of the Rail Community Officers is also to uphold the railway byelaws.
If you wish to get in touch with the BTP officer for your local “Homebeat” NPT to discuss any issues you may have please email securityadmin@swtrains.co.uk with your enquiry including your contact details on the email. We will pass these on to the relevant officer who will then contact you as soon as possible.
