The Golden Whistles
Violence against rail staffis on the rise. Could body-worn cameras help to combat this worrying trend? Mark Newton, Team Manager – Safety, Security & Standards at the Rail Delivery Group, outlined to the Golden Whistles conference some of the research conducted into this hypothesis.
There are around 7,000 physical assaults per year on rail staff, with a rise of 8% predicted in the year 2018-19. While extreme violence is thankfully rare, the lower end of violence is worryingly common. Mr Newton explained that based on emerging trends he could predict with some confidence where, when and who would be attacked, and that this knowledge must be used to make the railway safer for staff.
Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have been cited as one potential solution, and about 700 units currently exist. But while there is strong anecdotal evidence that BWCs are a positive influence, firmer evidence was needed. So RDG commissioned a study in partnership with the British Transport Police and the University of Cambridge based on a random control trial of gateline staff. This used the top 33 stations in terms of assaults against staffat ticket barriers and compared 15 stations where BWCs were used by …
