Rail passenger searches may be introduced

UK rail passengers may be required to agree to be searched as a stipulation for purchasing a ticket, as a means for security officials to bypass a legal obstacle to the use of metal detection equipment.

A senior police officer has said that passengers cannot be searched if they have triggered a metal-detecting arch without a “reasonable suspicion” that the metal object is a threat to security.

The assistant chief constable of the British Transport Police (BTP), Paul Crowther, said that under current legal codes, it is not sufficient that a passenger triggers the alarm for them to be searched.

He informed Commons Home Affairs Committee MPs that it would be possible to circumvent the legal issue by having passengers agree to being searched as a condition for purchasing a ticket.

The officer suggested that a debate be mounted about police searches, as the measure would only succeed with the support of the public.

“I think we would need to engage in debate about whether there was an appetite for that and whether people saw it as reasonable and proportionate,” he said.

A similar condition of ticket purchase was applied in the case of events such as concerts and football matches, and is currently in place in the US on transport system, Crowther added.

Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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