Re: Drugs on trains

[Vaughan Williams <ender2000@my-deja.com>]

> Seems like a good example of the media grasping at straws if the
> highest areas of drug use are based on one person's travels.

It wasnt based just on my personal observations, I also named Dandenong
and St Albans based on other people's reports.

> I probably agree with roving guards to some degree, although maybe
> properly trained CSEs who have powers to do something would be better.

Conductors can be given the same powers as CSE's. ANy person who works
for the railways can be authorised to do the various things that the
Transport Act empowers them to do.

They also have the option of citizen's arrest, the same power used by
security guards.

Also, CSE's are not "properly trained". They are poorly trained and ill-
informed, which is one of the reasons there are so many nasty incidents.

> From memory one of the complaints for the short time roving guards was
> trialed was that even if they saw something, they had no power to do
> anything! Guards felt they were wasting their time and, apart from a
PR
> point of view, they probably were. At least if CSEs see something,
they
> have the power to hand out fines. If they were also equipped with
> radios, they could also call the police.

CSE's can't hand out fines, they can only demand a name and address and
make a report. They also have a power of arrest similar to that of the
police (reasonable belief). This is additional to the ordinary
citizen's power of arrest (finds committing).

> It won't happen, it would cost too much to employ and pay the staff
> required, and would be next to useless anyway. Even the cost of making
> all the stations fit for humans to work at again would be prohibitive,
> a lot of stations are pretty run down inside the areas where there
used
> to be staff.

I would suggest that the combined cost of CSE's, fare evasion,
vandalism, and lost patronage (due to people feeling unsafe and due to
unreliability stemming from vandalism) would outweigh the cost of
staffing stations.

Vaughan


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