Vandalism can be extremely dangerous and life-threatening. Crimes such as stone throwing, graffiti, arson or placing obstructions on the track can lead to life imprisonment for the offender. 

Graffiti vandals put themselves and others in danger when they trespass onto railway property to commit the offence. The railway is a dangerous environment and graffiti vandals trespassing on the tracks not only put their lives in danger but police and rail staff too in combating it. 

Graffiti on trains or at stations also has a significant impact of people’s perception of safety and the fear of crime.  

Throwing objects such as stones at trains is extremely dangerous and can easily result in serious injuries to both passengers and staff on board. Not only are those who throw stones at trains risking serious injury to passengers and staff, they are also risking an appearance in court and a criminal conviction is a high price to pay for mindless ‘fun’. 

In some areas BTP officers use motorbikes and mountain bikes for quick-time response to incidents in hard-to-reach areas such as parkland.