A
transatlantic police operation will take place this week across England, Canada
and the United States to crackdown on unwanted sexual behavior committed on
public transport networks.
 |
| Global Guardian |
The
operation, called Global Guardian, will run from Monday, April 7th to
Friday, April 11th and will involve five police forces based in
Boston, London, Vancouver and Washington, D.C.
The organizations
taking part include British Transport Police (BTP), Metropolitan Police Service
(MPS), Transport for London (TfL), Metro Vancouver Transit Police, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Transit Police and Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
Global Guardian aims to improve the levels of reporting and access to services among victims of sexual
offences and to create an environment on public transport networks around the
world which does not tolerate intimidation and sexual harassment.
These types of
offences often go unreported across the globe as victims either worry they
won’t be taken seriously, think it’s not important enough, or believe it is
just part and parcel of everyday life.
Global Guardian will involve an increased number of uniformed and plain clothes officers
from the three different countries stepping up patrols on trains, buses, tubes
and metro services.
They will be
advising the travelling public about the initiative as well as identifying any
suspicious behavior across the transport networks.
Throughout the week of action each police force will be
using the hashtag #GlobalGuardian to raise awareness of the campaign and
to encourage people to report incidents that have happened to them on the
transport network.
Chief Paul MacMillan, of the MBTA Transit
Police in Boston, said: “We are pleased to participate in this initiative
and hope to raise awareness to what we know is a crime that often goes
unreported. Our passengers should know
that we take these incidents seriously and they should not tolerate this type
of behavior.”
Speaking
on behalf of the partners in London, Chief Superintendent Paul Brogden, of
British Transport Police, said: “BTP, MPS and TfL have
been working together over the last year to increase awareness and confidence amongst the public to
report unwanted sexual behaviour.
“We know that this problem isn’t unique to London and are eager to share our methods and
findings with other forces. We’re keen to work with our partners in America and Canada, as we want all victims to
know that they are not alone and will always be taken seriously when they report
an incident. Together we are committed to stamping out this type of behaviour
from transport networks around the world.”
Acting Superintendent Colin
Carswell, MPS Safer Transport Command, added: “If
someone has made you feel uncomfortable on your journey, however minor it may
seem to you, reporting it to police can help us target the perpetrator and
prevent it happening to another passenger.”
Chief Officer Neil Dubord, of the Transit Police in Vancouver, said: “Sexual offending on public transportation is a global issue and is
something that the Metro Vancouver Transit Police take very seriously. We are
pleased to be taking part in this international initiative and are committed to
continuously working with all our partners both locally, and globally, to rid
our system of this type of behavior.”
Chief Ron Pavlik, of the Metro Transit Police in Washington DC, said: “Every customer has the
right to expect a safe ride without fear of being sexually assaulted or
harassed in any way.
"We are putting would-be
harassers on notice that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated on DC's
Metro system."
media inquiries should be directed to tpdnews@mbta.com
tpdnews.
