Western Railroad Discussion > story about railroad police

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/complaints-rise-against-nation%e2%80%99s-railroad-police/ar-BBkmxhB

Seems some may be bad people.
There is little supervision of their practices.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

Amtrak police have Federal Marshall level authority ...

Posted from Android

Interesting article and not the least bit surprising that a corporate police force would have almost zero oversight.  With some of the behavior we've seen lately from police forces all over the country that DO have oversight, it's even more disturbing.  

     With plenty of fuel from the media and special interest group that need to keep the fire going.

Didn't know that about Wyoming and Minnesota.

On the SP, the "Special Agents" had a boss that covered an area that was set by the Chief Special Agent in the City. The Chief in SF only answered to the General Manager, period. 

The SP agents had the same arrest powers that peace officers have with in the state the are working. They can book you, search with a warrent, carry a wepon, etc.That would be any state they had tracks in. Im sure someone on this site must be in the know of Railroad Police laws that go way back. There was a law on the books that the courts could impose the death penalty if someone derailed a train on purpose and caused anybody to die.  Again, maybe some help from some sand house lawyers. One thing I do know, at least in Calif, is that they get nailed for speeding just like anyone else and thats their own ticket. These laws may have changed of course. .


Nudge



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/15 15:34 by spnudge.

Out_Of_Service Wrote:
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> Amtrak police have Federal Marshall level
> authority ...
>
> Posted from Android

Yes.  But they need authority from the individual state to file complaints as police in local courts. As federal marshals, they can file cases in federal court.  But, they can't file a trespassing case in municipal court without having state issued police status. And, the federal courts do not like to hear simple trespass, littering, etc complaints.

There's a protocol for the various rail companies which enables an officer to be certified in one state, and immediately be given equivalent status in every other state where the company does business.  It's a pretty good solution, and it protects the officer from being sued personally for work done at the company's behest.

Oh gee lets just pile on cops some more. There may be a few bad apples but to hear tell cops are the root of all evils and the cause of all societies ills. I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement but the situation is with police in general is no where near as bad as liberals and news media would have us believe. 

With our litigious society being what it is, it seems like there is someone waiting at every turn to get to money out of the railroads.  Given this, there is likely more oversight on railroad police than on many law enforcement agencies.   

autorack Wrote:
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> With our litigious society being what it is, it
> seems like there is someone waiting at every turn
> to get to money out of the railroads.  Given
> this, there is likely more oversight on railroad
> police than on many law enforcement agencies.   

The laws in many states make it much easier to sue a railroad company and its police officer for inappropriate conduct than suing a local police department, etc for inappropriate conduct / wrongful death, etc.  And the railroads are very good about keeping tabs on the employees. Just ask any employee. <G>

I would be astonished if any of the US class 1 line police forces had even the small fraction of the complaints about police in small cities.  Anyone know for sure?

But, wearing a blue uniform makes you a target in many places. City police, railroad police,  doesn't matter.