Questions about the Railroad Police

How active are they? Do they have specialized units like K-9, a SWAT Team, etc.? Any info about their operations would be interesting.

Odd question.

Two words: sha-dee.

They are active. How active, I don't know. If you go to a major yard, there is probably a 50/50 chance that you will encounter a RR PD officer. They've reduced their numbers over the past couple of years; I think they've only got one or two officers covering the entire state of Maine. Pretty certain they don't have a SWAT team. Not sure about a K9.

Only a handful of officers for the whole sysem. Nowhere near enough. No SWAT or k9

I traced the call... it's coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!!

<splittinghairs>Uh, there's been no Boston & Maine Police since about... 1984?</splittinghairs>

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:Uh, there's been no Boston & Maine Police since about... 1984?

On the contrary, if you happen to cross paths with a railroad police officer somewhere on the Pan Am system, take a look at his badge and the patch on his uniform... both say Boston & Maine Railroad Police. In fact, the newest version of the patch even has the B&M Minuteman. (The previous version had the Guilford G.) You can see it here.

yes indeed, the B&M Railroad Police while few in number are alive and kicking as a law enforcement entity. Remember, despite the corporate politics, all of Guilford/pan Am's railroads retain their own corporate identities, even if only "on paper"

Interesting patch. Shows that they are proud of their heritage. One interesting thing: it says right on the patch that they are the first community policing railroad. Unfortunately, I neither see or hear about them much. It would be great if they still continue their community policing function. That is one of the most effective ways to keep trespassers at bay. As you can see, most trespassers are just ignorant of the dangers, most don't have any malicious intent. A good way to build a relationship between the community and the railroad is with a police agency that embraces that function.

MEC407 wrote:

Otto Vondrak wrote:Uh, there's been no Boston & Maine Police since about... 1984?

On the contrary, if you happen to cross paths with a railroad police officer somewhere on the Pan Am system, take a look at his badge and the patch on his uniform... both say Boston & Maine Railroad Police. In fact, the newest version of the patch even has the B&M Minuteman. (The previous version had the Guilford G.) You can see it here.

They could paint all their second hand locomotives maroon and gold and they still would NEVER be the REAL B&M.

The "former" circa ~2006 had a SWAT unit. It was headed up by Lt. Tony DeFrancesco. They had a very nice unit, and lots of equipment. I got to see most of it, and it was a pretty nice set up for a "small" unit. There are some agencies who would love to have the stuff that they had. He was also an instructor for the United States Federation of Airsoft Standards and Training, I dunno if he still is.

Yes the patches are pretty cool. He gave me one before I graduated NH's Police academy.

Pretty decent department when they had good staffing. They hosted several trainings, and helped out with grants for town PD's that were along the ROW. I have not had contact with any of the guys on the reduced staffing version. I heard they are down to 4 guys...true?

That's a cool patch... notice the ST and MEC in the ribbon, I assume that's the nod to Springfield Terminal and Maine Central. So the police for the entire PAR/GRS system is referred to as B&M Railroad Police? There is no separate Maine Central Police then?

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:So the police for the entire PAR/GRS system is referred to as B&M Railroad Police? There is no separate Maine Central Police then?

Correct.

MEC did have a police department at one time; does anyone know the date of when it was disbanded?

Ian MacMillan wrote:Pretty decent department when they had good staffing. They hosted several trainings, and helped out with grants for town PD's that were along the ROW. I have not had contact with any of the guys on the reduced staffing version. I heard they are down to 4 guys...true?

They were a pretty active department before the big staff cuts. If you look through old issues of the Guilford XPress newsletter, there were always lots of articles about what the PD was up to, and a lot of it was community policing type stuff, and working with the municipal PDs along the line.

I've heard that they've got about 6 officers, but it could be 4. Either way it's a small number.

I assume the RR police are paid by the RR? What is their legal status? Are the glorified security guards or do they have the same powers as the regular police?
I ask because here in the UK RR police don't exist. There is a national British Transport Police but they are part of the 'real' police.

yes, railroad police are sworn police officers, and have the same powers and authority as any other police agency.