Railroad Cops

[wagnew0923]

What is life on the beat like for railroad police. If you are a railroad police officer can you share some of your stories. Other than ones where you are chasing foamers out of rail yards.

Other than tresspassers what other types of crime goes on, on trains and in rail yards.

[Firemedic Mike]

Having worked with railroad police before, I can offer a little insight into their jobs. Some particulars:

Railroad police respond to car/train accidents, as well as train/pedestrians or suicides by train. They work with the local authorities on the invesitagions. The same is true at derailments or hazmat releases of larger scale.

Railroad police protect and secure shipments. Railroad police work with local authorities to prevent the theft of cargo from freight trains. They often set up joint patrols to crack down on people stealing from freight trains.

Railroad police ensure safety at special events. I have seen railroad police deterring trespassing on railroad property at festivals and other special events located near the rails. People often cross the tracks where they please, and railroad police are there to ensure they only use designated crossings.

I have personally encountered Amtrak Police with the 4449 transit through Michigan City, IN. Two officers with one SUV were ensuring people stayed off of the active tracks as well as providing a presence while the loco was in town.

I encountered NS police while doing some track work at the NYC RR Museum in Elkhart when I volunteered there shortly after the train bombings in Spain. The officer wanted to know why I was digging a railroad tie out. After explaining that it was part of a track repair effort and informing him that the section I was working on belonged to the museum, we had an interesting conversation.

I have had the CSX police and Haz-mat regional coordinator give a presentation to our local fire dept about railroad response.

These don't count the officers I had to encounter at incidents or accidents. Hopefully they give you some insight into the job of railroad police.

[ConrailMan5]

There was a good article in trains in the mid 90's about CNW railroad police in inner city Chicago. I don't remember the particulars, but basically what there job was as described was to patrol the various freight yards, which of course were in bad neighborhoods, looking for people breaking into freight cars, especially intermodal containers. For some of the hotter trains, they would escort them out of town. The slow speeds due to congestion left these trains at a particular risk for people to seperate air hoses, throwing the train into emergency, and loot the containers.
Pretty dangerous stuff, considering that the people looting the containers are doing it to stay alive and feed their families, and the fact that the yards were in the slums.

[CAT345C]

Railroad police can also stop you for running a crossing stop sign and or lights gates. Worked in a bad area more than once and a little planning we would get the officer to hang out. Funny the kinds of questions locals will ask a RR cop. One guy asked how much a trespassing ticket he may or may not have gotten on CN, when he got an answer he said..." Aww sheit broda I gots bigga probs than that" and he continued on his way.

[LSRC]

In short, a railroad cop is a normal cop without backup. Not a job that I would ever want to have.

[JStryker722]

In short, a railroad cop is a normal cop without backup. Not a job that I would ever want to have.

I do know that on class 1 lines and interstate class 2 lines,railroad police get federal police authority along the whole ROW and in adjacent neighborhoods in towns along the line.

[wagnew0923]

Other than theft and tresspassing, what other crimes are common in a rail yard.

[Standard Railfan]

Other than theft and tresspassing, what other crimes are common in a rail yard.

I am thinking vandalism is high in the list.

[GAP]

A few years back I read a biography about a railroad policeman for the BN. I finally remembered the title, "Yard Bull" by Dan O'shea. Your local library should be able to get it thru a service called InterLibrary Loan (ILL).

[ConrailMan5]

Other than theft and tresspassing, what other crimes are common in a rail yard.

The trains article I mentioned earlier also mentioned that homicides, rape, and other crimes also occurred on railroad property fell under the jurisdiction of the CNW police. However these were very rare. Most of the problems they faced dealt with theft, trespassing, and vandalism.

[hoborich]

When I worked at Rougemere, back in the day, we would provide the railcops a list of the high value cars, car numbers, track location, etc, every morning. High value was tires, coffee, appliances, TVs, liquor and beer.
Today, I have no idea how anyone would know what is in a container, or even if it is loaded or empty, unless they had inside information.

[Schteinkuh]

When I worked at Rougemere, back in the day, we would provide the railcops a list of the high value cars, car numbers, track location, etc, every morning. High value was tires, coffee, appliances, TVs, liquor and beer.
Today, I have no idea how anyone would know what is in a container, or even if it is loaded or empty, unless they had inside information.

Who needs to know ahead of time? I don't think they really care what's in there as long as they can make a buck out of it!

[CSX_CO]

Other than theft and tresspassing, what other crimes are common in a rail yard.

Dumping on railroad property. Watching "Surveillance Cars." Investigating other 'crimes' on the railroad as mentioned elsewhere.

Practice Safe CSX

[bctrainfan]

Railroad police in Michigan (and most other states) have statewide police authority, basically the same as the state police, as long as they are certified as peace officers in Michigan. (most if not all are so certified.) They can make arrests for any crime, write tickets for any violation, and can make traffic stops anywhere, not just on RR property. They have other powers under various federal laws as well, which gives them authority on railroad property (of the RR that employs them) anywhere in the country. Canadian rules are similar, IIRC. That all being said, the RR's want their officers to mostly stick to activities directly related to the RR. The railroad police are one of the only groups who are employed by a private business but have general law enforcement authority. The railroads had some serious political clout back in the day! Today, RR officers tend to be spread very thin, work independently most of the time, and usually depend on other LE agencies for backup. Pay and benefits are pretty decent, and RR pension is pretty good, too. They are often working by themselves anywhere from the roughest urban areas to the most remote BFE wilderness! They do focus mostly on thefts, trespassing, and vandalism, as well as investigation of RR related accidents.

They tend to have the most problems in urban areas like Detroit or Chicago, especailly wth thefts. There are some very organized criminal groups that prey on the RR. They often have inside info on whats shipping in certain cars or containers and their origin/movements/destinations, usually from someone inside the factory, but sometimes even from RR employees. Often only a single car in a yard full of railcars is hit, and it just happens to be the one loaded with liquor, or flat screen TV's, or some other high value items. Another target, especially in the Detroit area, is tires/rims off new cars on autoracks. These can be worth big bucks and are pretty easy to sell. Not without its dangers, though, as the thieves usually hop on slow moving trains, straddle the couplers between 2 cars , pop the locks/seals and climb in. They use jacks out of the new cars to jack them up and pull the wheels. When they get to a certain spot they throw them off the train to accomplices waiting with a truck to pick up the wheels along the ROW, and then pick up their fellow thieves when the train slow enough for them to jump off at the next yard or whereever.

And, of course, they have to keep a close eye on all the foamers!

Seriously, though, the RR cops that I know seem like a pretty decent bunch, like most cops (I admit to having a slight bias there ) Its unfortunate that some people here have had some negative experiences with the RR bulls or cops in general. But like most of us, they are mainly just out there trying to do their jobs. We are are all human and may have a flaw or 2. Just remember, a little common sense and respect, on both sides, still goes a long way toward avoiding problems.

There is some other good info/pics/etc here: http://www.therailroadpolice.com/index.htm

[R.E.A.P.E.R.]

Or just ask a conductor in Michigan

MCL 462.255

462.255 Conduct as misdemeanor; penalty; powers of conductor or freight agent; duties of police officer; jurisdiction of court.

Sec. 255.

(1) A person who, while riding in the car of a freight, passenger, or other train on any railroad in this state, uses or utters indecent, obscene, or profane language in the hearing of other passengers, riotously or boisterously conducts himself or herself to the annoyance of other passengers, or who obtains or attempts to obtain money or property from any passenger or person by means of any game or device, shall, on conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not to exceed $100.00, or imprisonment for not to exceed 90 days, or both.

(2) Railroad conductors are hereby invested with the powers of sheriffs and constable in regard to offenses under this section occurring upon trains or cars in their charge, and may arrest and detain a person who violates this section until the car or train arrives at a usual stopping place, where the conductor may deliver the person to a police officer with a written statement specifying generally the offense or offenses the person has committed.

[KC]

Like all law enforcement officers, the danger is real;

http://www.odmp.org/search?ref=global&query=railroad

Kelly

[NYCMan]

Over the course of my years working on the railroad (NYC, PC, and briefly Conrail), I got to see a number of our railroad police in action. They tend to be especially busy around Livernois Yard and North Yard, and the areas in between that were called the Ho Chi Min Trail. Trains regularly got "dynamited" along the Ho Chi Min Trail by local thieves, who would descend upon the stopped trains like vulchers. The railroad police would have their hands full just dealing with trying to get a train through the area without it being stopped. Add to this the trespassers, the train versus automobile incidents;.the occasional "close encounters with moving train" case (i.e., dead body), and the folks that liked to come park in dark places at railroad yards (usually guys with girls having sex or guys with guys having sex.) and you can see that railroad police have their hands full dealing with all sort of the less-than-desirables of our Society. Almost every railroad cop that I met used to work for a city police department or county sheriff department and then moved to the railroad. The railroads pay much better than the city or county, and most of the guys took a retirement pension from the city or county and then would come to the railroad to earn a railroad retirement. When Conrail came to be, the number of railroad police seemed to go down, not only on Conrail but others just seemed to disappear with the mergers. There used to be a time when most every railroad in Detroit had their own police officers - Detroit Terminal, Grand Trunk Western, D&TSL had their own, DT&I, C&O, PRR, NYC. I wish I had thought to collect their patches and badges back then, as they would be worth something now.

[wagnew0923]

On the Ho Chi Min Trail what do you mean by dynamiting trains. Also how could they get the trains to stop. I know speeds are slow there but that is a lot of risk hoping the train will stop.

[JStryker722]

On the Ho Chi Min Trail what do you mean by dynamiting trains. Also how could they get the trains to stop. I know speeds are slow there but that is a lot of risk hoping the train will stop.

Small disks of dynamite are used as a safety warning device on lines where signals don't exist,don't work, our aren't properly showing trouble on the track ahead. When a locomotive wheel goes over the dynamite,it detonates,letting the engineer know that there is trouble is ahead and he needs to stop until instructed to move. Its a method in common usage around the world but mostly in use these days where 2 way radios don't exist. Not commonly used in North America in most cases these days with the wide spread use of wireless radios and CTC/ABS/PTC.

[ConrailDetr​oit]

Most railroads in Detroit seem to still have their own police officers, most commonly around Delray and the surrounding southwest side. Hanging out at Delray long enough, one will see CP, NS and CSX police.