TeachingZone - First group

When issues do occasionally arise, our staff are encouraged to contact their control rooms or the Police to report the incident.

The main issues which can impact on staff or passengers include, abusive behaviour, violence towards staff or passengers, vandalism, anti-social behaviour or attempts to evade payment.

These don’t happen often but when they do arise, staff are encouraged to take the appropriate action in line with their training. The likelihood is the Police will be involved.

Our aim is to ensure our passengers have an enjoyable experience travelling on our buses, whilst at the same time ensuring our staff are adequately protected in their workplace. The majority of our buses have CCTV recording systems which can be used to gather evidence of any incidents, on or outside the vehicle.

Abusive Behaviour can include shouting or swearing at the driver or other passengers in a manner which is threatening, upsetting or generally abusive.
Violence can include assaults or attempted assaults on other passengers or staff. This includes spitting which is a form of assault. Our staff carry DNA Spit Kits to ensure they are able to capture DNA samples where this type of behaviour occurs.
Vandalism can take many forms such as the use of graffiti on the inside or outside of buses, damage to seats or equipment inside a bus. It can also include stone throwing which can break windows or cause damage to the bodywork of a bus. Such activity is costly to repair, can be dangerous and impacts on customers as fares may need to be increased to cover repairs.
Anti-Social Behaviour whilst possibly appearing funny to those involved, can impact seriously on other customers, particularly if they are elderly. This generally takes the form of rowdy behaviour, throwing things on the bus, attempting to open escape doors and generally being a nuisance to other people using the bus.
Fare Evasion is where individuals try to avoid payment for a journey or try to travel further than they should for the cost of their ticket. This can impact on the cost of travelling for other passengers. FirstGroup, similarly to other bus operators, will take action against people who try this. This helps us control the cost of fares.

Types of crime on buses

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Safe travelling on buses

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Travelling on buses

Travelling on buses is a safe and enjoyable experience. Passengers should follow this straightforward guidance to help ensure this:-

If travelling late at night, try to ensure you sit near the driver.
When travelling at night on quiet routes on double decker buses, sit on the lower deck near the driver.
Should you become concerned about the behaviour of any passenger, bring this to the attention of the driver when it is safe to do so.
Always ensure you plan the correct route to travel on and identify where the safest stop is for you to get off the bus. If possible at night have someone meet you at the bus stop or travel with someone you know.
If you see someone vandalising the bus, bring this to the attention of the driver.
Do not have expensive looking accessories such as mobile phones, IPods or similar items on show if possible, as this may attract the attention of thieves.

FirstWatch for rail replacement services

The concept of FirstWatch is modelled on that of ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ and is aimed at giving extra value to train operating companies and their customers by providing extra eyes and ears from a security point of view at and around the front of railway stations. First Rail Support operates a replacement Coach/Bus/Taxi service on a national basis to the rail industry. As a consequence, they employ over 300 co-ordinators who are employed around the UK rail network actively assisting rail passengers and staff at the ‘Station Roadside’ with Rail/Road interface services at times of either emergency or pre-planned closures of Railway lines.

The FRS operation is co-ordinated from a permanently manned control room located in Simonstone, and from there controllers are able to pinpoint the location of the co-ordinators at any time whilst on duty. They are also in contact with each co-ordinator, whose duties often involve them spending protracted periods of time working at or around the front of Railway Stations.

The role of the co-ordinators lends itself to them acting as ‘eyes and ears’ for the BTP at these locations in a purely non-intervention role.

Aims

For FRS to assist British Transport Police at known crime hotspots in both a proactive and reactive manner.
For FRS to assist the BTP during ongoing incidents, such as looking out for missing persons or the monitoring of travelling football fans, when so requested.
For FRS staff to provide intelligence on items of interest to the BTP through their Duty Control Manager.