Keeping London moving
The Metropolitan Police’s Transport Operational Command Unit is looking for experienced and enthusiastic officers and career detectives to work in an environment that’s free of response-policing, allowing self-directed patrol
The Metropolitan Police Service Transport Operational
Command Unit (TOCU) keeps London moving safely on buses, in cabs, private-hire vehicles, and on the
Transport for London Road Network through regular patrols and intelligence-led operations.
Set up in 2002 in partnership with (and funded by) Transport for London, the Transport OCU is staffed by police officers, traffic police, community support
officers, Red Route Enforcement Officers and police staff.
Earlier this year Reassurance Teams were introduced in 11 inner-London areas to tackle crime through reassurance-style
policing and problem-solving initiatives.
London’s buses carry 6.3
million passengers a day on 700
routes across the capital, with
only 15 crimes for every one
million passenger journeys.
The Transport OCU ensures
crime is kept at this low level by
targeting organised thieves and
criminal gangs; detecting fraud,
theft, robbery and drug dealing;
and tackling violent and antisocial
behaviour, and enforcing
the law in relation to unlicensed
private-hire vehicles.
All the while the presence of
the Transport OCU drives down
the fear of crime and provides
reassurance to the travelling
community.
“We have fantastic arrests
on a daily basis”, says Transport
OCU Commander, Chief Superintendent
Joe Royle.
“A career pickpocket who
preyed on pensioners, a drug
dealer carrying more than 760
rocks of crack cocaine and a
fugitive on Interpol’s most wanted
list are just some of the
criminals that Transport OCU
officers have tackled in recent
months.
“Earlier this year we ran
Operation Sandor, which concentrated
on priority crime bus
routes identified by the TOCU’s
intelligence unit and led to 588
arrests. This was an outstanding
result and we’ll continue to carry
out operations like Sandor in the
future.”
Overall, the Transport OCU
has a wealth of experience and
expertise in the kind of policing
it provides – both to the travelling
public and other departments
within the Met.
The covert Dip Squad, for
example, has had a significant
impact on reducing the problem
of pickpockets on London’s
buses.
The Dip Squad’s work so far
has identified five criminal networks
of pickpockets working in
the capital, with links to money
laundering, people trafficking
and drug smuggling.
“We’re also busy establishing
a Workplace Violence Unit to
focus on reducing violence
against bus drivers and staff,”
continued Chief Supt Royle.
He explained: “It will be a
partnership initiative with borough
operational command
units. By drawing our resources
together, we hope to raise the
profile of the issue and provide
effective solutions to the
problem.”
Another success of the Transport
OCU is its reduction in the
number of illegal minicabs touting
for business around central
London.
Its Cabs Enforcement Unit
works at peak activity times to
target taxi touts, sex offenders
and those involved in organised
crime through uniformed and
plain-clothes touting patrols,
bogus insurance investigations
and prosecutions, and vehicle
examinations and seizures.
Join the TOCU
Going forward, the TOCU is looking
for experienced and enthusiastic
officers, as well as career
detectives.
Chief Supt Royle says: “Our
working environment is free of
the usual response-policing demands
found on borough and, as
such, allows for self-directed
patrol and gives officers the time
to take ownership in assisting
with the investigation of serious
crime.
“Whilst we are reducing
crime levels year on year, the
crime that we do target is often
of an interesting and serious nature:
dipping, robberies, sexual
offences, serious violence, organised
crime networks, etc.
“Therefore, applications are
particularly welcome from those
officers who, through effective
community engagement and
capable use of the intelligence
indices, are able to identify and
generate proactive operations
aimed at curtailing the activities
of such criminals.”
If you’re interested in joining
the Metropolitan Police Service
Transport Operational Command
Unit, please see the advertisement
on this page and attend
one of our open days either on
13 October 2008 at Victoria
Plaza Hotel or on 22 October
2008 at Fairfield Halls, Croydon,
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