On the rail system, theft of cable is a particular problem and is extremely dangerous to those involved. It can also cause hours of delay to the thousands of passengers who rely on the rail network. Those who steal cable are not just risking a prison sentence, they are risking their lives.
In the North West a total of 42 people were arrested for cable related incidents in 2007. That figure is more than twice the figure in 2006 which stood at 18 arrests.Recent court cases have resulted in a number of cable thieves being given heavy custodial sentences. For example, in September 2007 40 year old Graham Ward from Greater Manchester was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for stealing £12,000 worth of cable from railway sidings in Tebay, Cumbria.
Nationally in 2006 BTP recorded 1,142 crimes and made 317 arrests and in 2007 recorded 1,928 thefts and 396 arrests.
According to Network Rail between April and December 2007 there were 197 train cancellations and trains were delayed for a total of 21,068 minutes in the North West as a result of cable theft or the attempted theft of cable.
The latest technology in police surveillance, the Microdrone is an unmanned, almost silent helicopter that can film from more that 350ft. Invisible to the naked eye and able to hover at 350ft above railway lines and surrounding areas the remote controlled helicopter, the size of a dustbin lid, beams back live video footage and infra-red imagery to police operators on the ground. The hovering Microdrone can even squirt offenders with Smartwater security marking solution that can then be identified by police.
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