Re: [VIC] Ticket inspectors used 'excessive force'

[taliesin@chariot.net.au (Taliesin Walker)]

I tend to think that the "conductors" wouldn't have done this unless
this bloke hadn't done something to deserve it.

Tali


On Sat, 25 Nov 2000 04:29:23 GMT, "Andrew Box" <boxy@bigpond.net.au>
wrote:

>Maybe this is a good reason for those 12% out there to buy a ticket next
>time they take a ride on a Yarra tram
>
>http://www.theage.com.au/news/20001125/A35745-2000Nov24.html
>
>Ticket inspectors used 'excessive force'
>
>By SUSHI DAS
>TRANSPORT REPORTER
>Saturday 25 November 2000
>
>Private transport operator Yarra Trams yesterday denied taking a
>heavy-handed approach after an interstate passenger travelling without a
>ticket was wrestled to the ground in Collins Street when he refused to give
>his personal details.
>
>Four plain-clothes revenue protection officers forced the struggling and
>screaming passenger off the route 112 tram about 1.30pm and held him down
>before seven police officers arrived to deal with the scuffle.
>
>Concerned for the man, another passenger, Susan Glover, intervened, but was
>told by Yarra Trams staff that she would be arrested if she did not back
>off.
>
>"The young man was doing his best to cooperate but was being pushed to
>frustration by the heavy-handed approach," Ms Glover said.
>
>"As I got off the tram in Collins Street, the four heavies dragged off the
>boy behind me. He was clearly scared and was calling out as he was wrestled
>to the ground. His bag and wallet scattered on the road as motorists stopped
>to stare and crowds gathered on the footpath," she said.
>
>"They moved in on the boy and quickly had him in a vice-like grip. By this
>stage the boy was terrified."
>
>A Yarra Trams spokeswoman, Christine Buckingham, denied unnecessary force
>had been used, saying passengers were unaware of the powers held by revenue
>protection officers. Yarra Trams will launch a customer education campaign
>next month.
>
>She said the scuffle ensued because the passenger, who was from the Northern
>Territory but residing in St Kilda, was being aggressive, abusive and was
>trying to run away.
>
>Yarra Trams revenue protection manager Paul McKeon said revenue protection
>officers were trained to deal with hostile incidents using special
>techniques.
>
>"He was very negative and aggressive and started to yell and scream," he
>said. "Only restraint techniques were used. We don't use batons or
>handcuffs. He was held by the arm and they ended up on the ground at one
>stage."
>
>The passenger gave his personal details to tram staff after he was advised
>to do so by police officers. The police were called by a bystander.
>
>Under the Transport Act and Crimes Act, revenue protection officers are
>empowered to detain and arrest passengers travelling without a valid ticket
>who refuse to give their personal details.
>
>From next month Yarra Trams' 29 revenue protection officers will wear a grey
>pinstriped suit, white shirt and identification badge. Some will check
>tickets in plain clothes.
>
>Yarra Trams' 20 customer service employees also check tickets but do not
>have the power to detain passengers.Mr McKeon said that up to 20,000 tickets
>were checked each month. Between 1000 and 1200 people a month were booked
>for ticketing offences. There had been four hostile incidents this month.
>
>Yarra Trams reports ticket offenders to the Department of Infrastructure,
>which issues a flat $100 fine for each offence. Mr McKeon said fare evasion
>had remained at about 12 per cent since the system was privatised last
>August.
>
>The Public Transport Users Association president, Paul Mees, expressed
>outrage, saying Yarra Trams was using a "quasi-militaristic style of
>enforcement which was inappropriate".
>
>"They have set up a system where it's hard to buy a ticket and easy to evade
>your fare. Some serious civil liberties questions are raised when
>quasi-police powers are given to private companies," he said.
>
>
>