Railway cops roll out secret weapon

Police have quietly begun using a new facility to help them enforce the law along 2500km of train line the length of Queensland.

A MOBILE police station is helping a special unit crack down on crime along Queensland’s rail network.

Officers from Queensland Police’s Railway Squad face everything from serious assaults to drug deals along over 2500km of track, stretching from the Gold Coast to Cairns.

Officers have quietly been using the mobile police facility since the Commonwealth Games, conducting hundreds of operations resulting in 236 arrests in the past financial year.

This is the first time the little-known unit has spoken publicly about the method and its success.

As part of the mobile policing, officers have used motorbikes to chase crims through railway corridors and have dogs specially trained to detect explosives and illicit drugs.

The Railway Squad’s mobile police facility has slashed the time to execute warrants and process a criminal from over 90 minutes, to just 30 minutes.

Senior Sergeant Simon Arnold at Birkdale Station, east of Brisbane, with the Mobile Police Facility. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Previously, criminals in police custody had to be transferred to a nearby police station, or watchhouse, wasting stretched police resources.

The man in charge, Senior Sergeant Simon Arnold, said police could process crims on the spot.

‘If we get an offender on the train who is wanted on a number of matters … warrants can be executed here,” Snr Sgt Arnold said.

“That saves time for police leaving here and going to the watch house.”

“We have to do things on the go.”

The van has been a successful part of the growing Rail Squad, being deployed to over 229 operations last financial year.

Snr Sgt Arnold, who joined the Rail Squad in 2004, said local police chiefs often requested the van when dealing with situations or cracking down on crime hot spots.

Police can interview, issue warrants and bail for alleged criminals intercepted on the rail network. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Snr Sgt Arnold said the biggest issues on Queensland trains and stations were juvenile crime, drugs, trespassers and serious assaults.

“Any serious offences being committed on the rail network, I come down hard on that,” he said.

“Those persons should have bail restrictions against them not to be on the rail network.

“That’s more or less to protect the other people.”

He said that co-ordination between the Railway Squad and Queensland Rail was so seamless, an officer could shutdown the rail network “in seconds” in the case of a trespasser.

Queensland police are also stationed at QR’s control centre in Bowen Hills at night to help survey live feeds from 12,000 CCTV cameras.

The Railway Squad is also adapting to new methods of policing, focusing particularly on helping kids found high after ‘chroming’.

“They use inhalants,” Sen-Sgt Arnold said.

“(We) try to divert that person to a (non-government organisation), to basically get them some sort of education, some sort of help.”

These efforts extend to suicide prevention, with the organisation co-ordinating several efforts to provide those grappling with mental illness with support.

If this story has raised issues for you, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636