TRANSPORT police have sent a clear signal to thugs - crime in Central Station will not be tolerated.
TRANSPORT police have sent a clear signal to thugs - crime in Central Station will not be tolerated.
Officers launched a crackdown on criminals carrying weapons and drugs in the city's busiest transport hub.
| OPERATION Shield follows an Evening Times report last month of the rise in violent crime in Glasgow's Central Station. We told how stabbings and serious assaults there rose last year while clear-up rates plunged by a quarter. Almost a third of serious crimes were left unsolved. But bosses defended the figures, pointing to the successes in clearing up anti-social behaviour in the city's two major rail stations. Central, which saw 38million visitors last year, had a 94% detection rate for anti-social behaviour while 99% of nuisance crimes in Queen Street were cleared up. Central and Queen Street stations are not included in the beats of Strathclyde Police but fall under the jurisdiction of the British Transport Police. BTP are responsible for patrolling train stations as well as Glasgow's Subway system. |
The Evening Times joined police as they carried out Operation Shield - a mass stop-and-search exercise.
During a four-hour blitz cops used an airport-style metal detector to scan almost 200 commuters.
And police bosses vowed they will not let up on criminals who put passengers' lives at risk.
Sergeant Graham Hart, leading the operation, said: "We are sending a message of reassurance to the public but we are also letting people know we are alert to criminals carrying weapons and we will not stand for it.
"This is the second operation of its type we have carried out in Central Station and it will not be the last.
"Criminals who carry weapons on our transport system will be caught and punished."
Last month we told how violent crime rates in Central Station had rocketed while clear-up rates plunged.
And almost one third of violent crime and knife attacks in the station were going undetected.
But police vowed to use Operation Shield to increase their presence in Central Station to push up clear-up rates.
Sergeant Hart added: "I would rather search a couple of hundred people and find nothing than find someone with a knife.
"Even if you only get one person, it's worth it to let criminals know we are here and looking for them."
Despite the time taken to be scanned travellers were reassured by the extra police.
Gary Loudon, from Milngavie, said it made the station seem safer when the police were such a visible presence.
The 21-year-old said: "It's a good thing, definitely.
I would never come down to this area of the station at night because it never feels safe.
"Going through the metal detector was no hassle and took a couple of minutes. It would really make someone think twice if they were carrying a knife."
Lisa McLuckie, a legal secretary from Stonehouse, agreed the station seemed a safer place with the police out in force.
The 28-year-old said: "It makes me feel safer that they're doing this. You never know who you're getting on a train with and what they might be carrying."
Teenagers Clare Garvie, 16, and Jodie Robertson, 17, were on their way home from college when they were stopped and scanned.
Jodie, from Balornock, said: "You get some really undesirable types hanging around so it's good to see that the police are actively doing something about it."
But law student Franck Lamb was more cautious of the stop and search efforts.
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The 29-year-old said: "I can't imagine they will catch many people - you would just choose a route to avoid going past the scanner if you had anything to hide.
"I would prefer to see the police in the station on patrol on a more regular basis."
At the end of the Operation, no knives were found - but one man from the Greenock area was arrested on suspicion of possessing cannabis.
Chief Inspector Alex McGuire said: "This operation once again proved a worthwhile exercise and was well received by rail staff and members of the public.
"We are happy that no weapons were recovered and these results help reassure the travelling public that they can continue to travel without becoming the victim of crime on the railway."
British Transport Police officers set up walk-through detectors at the station's low level.
Cops pick out travellers fitting their target age range of 15 to 30 and ask them to walk through the archway.
The detectors, similar to those used at airport security checkpoints, alert officers to anyone carrying a weapon. The police then carry out a search of the person and their luggage.
The operation follows a stop-and-search scheme on the Subway system.
Cops also carried out the scheme at Central Station in June this year, searching 244 commuters.
