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Transit Police
Transit police are specialized police officers who protect transit systems and transit customers (passengers) from crime, threats, and disorder. Transit systems include urban metros or subways, light-rail (trams and trolleys), buses, rail, passenger ferries, and terminals. These facilities, like the rest of the urban environment, can become the setting for crime, threats (including terrorism), disorder, and emergencies. Transit policing is not a separate discipline from policing, but it addresses many aspects that require specialized training and familiarization in order to be effective.
Transit Police Agencies
Transit police may include officers of a separate agency or members of a specialized unit within a general service police or sheriff's department. The first transit police agency in the United States was the New York City Independent Subway Special Police, formed in 1933 with six members. This agency evolved into the New York City Transit Police Department (now merged into the New York Police Department as the Transit Bureau), one of the largest police entities in the nation. Several large transit systems employ special units of their jurisdictional police provider. The New York Police Department patrols the New York City subway, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department's Transit Services Bureau patrols bus and rail systems throughout the Los Angeles region, and the Chicago Police Public Transportation Section patrols Chicago's transit system.
A number of independent police agencies also police transit systems. These include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police, who patrol the PATH system. The Metro Transit Police are responsible for the Washington Metro and buses in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland; the BART Police protect the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in the San Francisco Bay area; and the MBTA Police work in metropolitan Boston. In New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police patrol the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Commuter railways. Cities with newer public transit systems, such as Dallas and Houston, also have dedicated transit system police officers. In addition, Amtrak Police are responsible for patrolling the national Amtrak rail system. In Great Britain, the national British Transport Police provide police services to the London Underground and other railways. A number of other countries in Europe and Asia also assign designated officers to their transit systems.
Early Transit Crime Fighting
Transit crime is as old as transit systems. Well before the creation in 1933 of New York City's subway special police, members of the public were concerned about transit-related crime and safety. As early as 1859, Philadelphia street car operators were forced to eject intoxicated passengers and to worry about the dangers of children playing on or near tracks. Fare evasion, smoking, victimization by pickpockets, and assaults were common complaints as early as the 1860s and 1870s, when theft of revenue by employees also plagued transit agencies. Early crime complaints often came from women who were forced to endure sexual comments and gestures from male riders. Responding to these complaints, for a short time in 1909, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, which ran under the Hudson River from New York City to Jersey City, New Jersey (the current PATH, or the Port Authority Trans-Hudson line operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey), operated a ladies’ car, as did many long-distance railroads.
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- Agencies/Associations/Organizations
- Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences
- Airborne Law Enforcement Association
- American Society of Criminology
- Burns Detective Agency
- Child Welfare
- Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies
- Crime Stoppers
- Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
- Fraternal Organizations
- Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association
- International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators
- International Association of Chiefs of Police
- International Association of Women Police
- Mothers against Drunk Driving
- National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives
- National Black Police Officers Association
- National Native American Law Enforcement Association
- National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives
- National Rifle Association
- National Sheriffs' Association
- Police Executive Research Forum
- Police Foundation
- U.S. Police Canine Association, Inc.
- Civilian/Private Involvement
- Communications
- Crime Statistics
- Culture/Media
- Drug Enforcement
- Asset Forfeiture, State
- Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act
- Drug Enforcement Administration
- Drug Enforcement in the United States
- Drug Policy and Legislation
- Drug Prevention Education
- Drug Testing of Employees
- Drug Testing of Police
- Drug Trafficking
- Federal Drug Seizure System
- Food and Drug Administration
- Harrison Act
- Marijuana Tax Act
- Narcotics Control Act
- Office of National Drug Control Policy
- Pure Food, Drink, and Drug Act
- Federal Agencies/Organizations
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police
- Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Bureau of Industry and Security
- Bureau of Land Management Law Enforcement
- Bureau of Reclamation, Office of Security, Safety, and Law Enforcement
- Critical Incident Response Group
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Justice
- Diplomatic Security Service
- Drug Enforcement Administration
- Federal Air Marshal Program
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
- Federal Protective Service
- Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
- Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Law Enforcement
- Forest Service, Law Enforcement and Investigations
- Inspectors General
- Inspectors General, Offices of
- Internet Fraud Complaint Center
- Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, Federal
- Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, State and Local
- Library of Congress Police
- National Crime Information Center
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services
- National Marine Fisheries Service, Department of Commerce
- National Public Safety Information Bureau
- National Security Agency
- National Transportation Safety Board
- National Zoological (Smithsonian) Park Protective Services
- Nuclear Security, Department of Energy
- Office of Security, Central Intelligence Agency
- Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
- Pentagon Police
- Secret Service
- Tennessee Valley Authority Police
- Transportation Security Administration
- U.S. Capitol Police
- U.S. Coast Guard
- U.S. Customs Service
- U.S. Marshals Service
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service
- International Law Enfrocement
- Community Policing, International
- Community Policing: A Caribbean Case Study
- EUROPOL
- History of Police
- International Criminal Justice Mechanisms
- International Police Association
- International Police Cooperation
- INTERPOL
- Police and Peacekeeping in the United Nations
- Police and Terrorism
- Police Corruption
- Police Corruption: Combating Strategies
- Police Structure: Centralized/Decentralized
- Police Training: A Comparative Perspective
- Private Security Industry Growth in Western Countries
- Suicide by Cop: International Perspective (Police-Involved, Victim-Provoked Shooting)
- United Nations and Criminal Justice Policy
- Women in Policing
- Investigation Techniques
- American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors
- Ballistics
- Ballistics Recognition and Identification Systems
- Combined DNA Index System
- Coroner and Medical Examiner Systems
- Crime Laboratories
- Crime Laboratory Accreditation
- Crime Mapping
- Crime Scene Investigation
- Detectives
- DNA
- DNA Testing
- Document Examiners
- Encryption
- Evidence
- Fingerprints
- Forensic Accounting
- Forensic Art
- Forensic Science
- Geographic Information System
- Information Technologies
- Interrogation
- Investigative Techniques
- Lie Detection
- Profiling, Criminal Personality
- Profiling, Drug Courier
- Profiling, Geographic
- Task Forces
- Undercover Operations, Federal
- Undercover Operations, State and Local
- Investigation, Types of
- AMBER Alert
- Arson Investigation
- Art Theft Investigation
- Child Abduction Investigations
- Child Molestation
- Child Pornography
- Cold Case Investigations
- Computer Crime
- Crime Scene Investigation
- Domestic Violence Enforcement
- Drunk Driving Enforcement
- Gangs Investigation
- Homicide Investigation
- Identity Theft and Identity Crimes
- Missing Persons Investigations
- Office of Security, Central Intelligence Agency
- Organized Crime Control
- Serial Murder Investigation
- Sex Crime Investigation
- Vidocq Society
- Investigative Commissions
- Christopher Commission, The
- Crown Heights Report
- Knapp Commission, The
- McCone Commission, The
- Mollen Commission, The
- National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorder (Kerner Commission)
- National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (Wickersham Commission)
- President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice
- Rampart Investigation, The
- Law and Justice
- Legislation/Legal Issues
- Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
- Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
- Campus Safety and Security Acts
- Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
- Church Arson Prevention Act
- Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act
- Consent Decrees
- Freedom of Information Act
- Fugitive Felon Act
- Gun Control
- Gun Control Act
- Harrison Act
- Hate Crimes
- Hate Crimes Statistics Act
- Hate Crimes, Law Enforcement Response to
- Immigrants (Policy Toward)
- Mann Act
- Marijuana Tax Act
- Motor Vehicle Theft Act
- Narcotics Control Act
- Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
- Posse Comitatus Act
- Privacy Act
- Prohibition Law Enforcement
- Pure Food, Drink, and Drug Act
- Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
- Sexual Offender Civil Commitment
- USA PATRIOT Act
- Violence against Women Act
- Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994)
- Volstead Act
- Military
- Intelligence and Security Command, Department of the Army, Department of Defense
- Militarization of American Police
- Military Police, Department of the Army, Department of Defense
- Military Policing
- National Guard
- Naval Criminal Investigative Service
- U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations
- U.S. Air Force Security Forces
- U.S. Criminal Investigation Command, Department of the Army, Department of Defense
- Minority Issues
- Affirmative Action in Policing
- Cultural Competency Training/Sensitivity Training
- Depolicing
- Gays in Policing
- Hate Crimes
- Hate Crimes, Law Enforcement Response to
- Immigrants (Policy Toward)
- International Association of Women Police
- National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives
- National Native American Law Enforcement Association
- National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives
- Profiling, Racial
- Race Relations
- Tribal Policing
- Women in Federal Agency Law Enforcement
- Women in Federal Law Enforcement
- Women in Policing, State and Local
- Personnel Issues
- Affirmative Action in Policing
- Assaults on the Police
- Body Armor
- Cultural Competency Training/Sensitivity Training
- Drug Testing of Employees
- Drug Testing of Police
- Early Warning Systems
- Education of Police
- Evaluation of Officers
- Fraternal Organizations
- Hiring Standards for Police
- Morale
- Patrol Shifts
- Patrol Work
- Physical Fitness and Training
- Police Corps
- Police Discretion
- Police Management
- Police Officers' Bill of Rights
- Police Residency Requirements
- Police Shootings
- Police Strikes/“Blue Flu”
- Police Training in the United States
- Psychologists/Psychological Services
- Quotas (Tickets, Arrests)
- Rank Structure
- Stress
- Unions
- Police Conduct
- Accountability
- Assaults on the Police
- Civil Liability
- Civil Rights Violations by Police
- Civilian Complaint Review Boards
- Complaints against Police
- Consent Decrees
- Corruption/Integrity
- Early Warning Systems
- Ethics
- Evaluation of Officers
- Internal Affairs
- Police Brutality
- Police Code of Silence
- Police Discretion
- Police Misconduct
- Police Shootings
- Suicide by Cop
- Use of Force
- Whistle-Blowing
- Police Procedures
- Arrest
- Canine (K-9) Units
- Chain of Custody
- Confessions
- Duty Belt
- Electronic Surveillance, Federal
- Electronic Surveillance, State and Local
- Exclusionary Rule
- Eyewitnesses
- Hostage Negotiations
- Informants
- Interrogation
- Lie Detection
- Lineups
- Miranda Warnings
- Nonlethal Weapons
- Plain View Doctrine
- Police Discretion
- Police Pursuits
- Probable Cause
- Search and Seizure
- Search Warrants
- Stop and Frisk
- SWAT Teams
- Undercover Operations, Federal
- Undercover Operations, State and Local
- Use of Force
- Vehicle Searches
- Video in Patrol Cars
- Weapons
- Policing Strategies
- Safety and Security
- Airport Security
- Auxiliary/Reserve/Part-Time Police
- Burns Detective Agency
- Campus Policing
- Emergency Services Units
- National Domestic Preparedness Office
- National Guard
- Peace Officers
- Pinkerton National Detective Agency
- Private Policing
- School Crime/Security/Response
- Special Jurisdiction Law Enforcement Agencies
- Wackenhut Corporation
- Specialized Law Enforcement Agencies
- Tactics
- Arrest
- Bombs and Bomb Squads
- Canine (K-9) Units
- Counterterrorism
- Crime Mapping
- Crime Prevention Units
- Crisis Intervention
- Duty Belt
- Emergency Services Units
- Geographic Information System
- Hostage Negotiations
- Juvenile Crimes/Programs/Units
- Mentally Ill, Police Response to the
- Militarization of American Police
- Misdemeanors
- Nonlethal Weapons
- Police Mediation
- Radar
- Riots/Demonstrations (Response to)
- Special Victims Units
- Stop and Frisk
- SWAT Teams
- Task Forces
- Traffic Enforcement
- Truancy
- Use of Force
- Vehicle Searches
- Weapons
- Terrorism
- Victims/Witnesses
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