Head start on the criminals

Oldham’s bus station in Cheapside will be the latest to get staff wearing head cams to record criminal and anti-social behaviour to be used as evidence by police.

The idea had a successful trial at Leigh before being introduced at Wigan and Bolton and is now being rolled out at Oldham and Manchester’s Shudehill bus stations.

They are worn by staff in a scheme partly financed by Oldham-based bus company First Manchester.

Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive’s Mike Renshaw said: “This initiative has been extremely successful in the reduction of instances of crime, anti social behaviour, and fear of crime through evidence gathering and prosecution of offenders.”

And police who join transport security staff at bus, train, and tram stops in Greater Manchester are arresting more wanted villains than ever before.

They combine to mount checks on tickets and passes as well as using metal-detecting arches to search for knives and sniffer dogs to detect drugs.

If the travellers do not have a ticket or have the wrong one, police step in and question them and carry out background and identity checks.

“This tactic has yielded significant results,” said Mr Renshaw.

Although there are fears that police may pull out of the joint operations because of spending cuts, Mr Renshaw said: “The police accept that there has been a shift of offenders from cars on to public transport.”

Greater Manchester Police disbanded its dedicated tram team of an inspector, three sergeants, 24 constables and a civilian controller five years ago to save money. Since then, private security guards have kept order.