Operation Shield is an initiative led by
British Transport Police
British Transport Police (BTP; ) is a national special police force that polices the railway network of England, Wales and Scotland, which consists of over 10,000 miles of track and 3,000 stations and depots.
BTP also polices the London Under ...
, where security scanners are to be deployed at major railway stations with the aim of discouraging criminal activity on the rail network.
The trial of the portable equipment was undertaken by BTP in the London area and has been used in towns and cities such as
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
,
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
,
Preston,
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
,
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
and
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
.
The initiative came after the use of metal detectors at several
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The Undergro ...
(tube) stations led to 100 arrests and the seizure of 68 knives after around 10,000 passengers were checked.
Police resources include:
* uniformed and plainclothes police officers,
*
sniffer dogs,
* mobile scanners.
These were deployed at stations where robbery was known to be a problem. As well as catching
those carrying weapons, officers were able to spot individuals shying away from the detectors and made a number of arrests for other offences such as possession of drugs and stolen goods. The equipment is easily moved from one location to another making it ideal to target locations with an element of surprise.
• Operation Shield is separate to the Department for Transport's high-profile security scanning trial at Paddington Station which was set up as part of the response to the
July 7 bombings.
References
{{Reflist
Shield
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...
British Transport Police