16th
October 2006
~ BusBeat
receives its first UK bus driver as qualified Special
Police Officer ~
 Eight
months since the launch of BusBeat, a new initiative
that trains bus drivers as Special Constables, the
selection process and training has been finalised on
the first driver to successfully achieve Special Police
officer status under the sponsored initiative. Gagu
Keshwala, bus driver at Metroline’s Harrow
Weald garage is the first driver to receive his warrant
card under BusBeat with 5 more Metroline candidates
hot on his heels who are currently going through assessment
and training.
Gagu will now dedicate
eight hours of his time, once every fortnight to patrolling
buses,
transport routes
and bus stations alongside experienced officers. BusBeat
Special Constables have the same powers as their full-time
counterparts. Metroline was the first London Bus Operator
to sign up to this scheme at the beginning of this
year and
hopes to reap some of the rewards of deterring crime
and anti-social behaviour on it’s buses and bus
routes.
Jaspal Singh, Chief Executive
Officer at Metroline supported the initiative:
“
I’m very pleased that Metroline is the first
bus operator to provide a fully trained Special Officer
to the BusBeat initiative. Involving bus operators
like Metroline to combat antisocial behaviour will
ultimately make bus travel safer and promotes an environment
in which our passengers feel more secure.”
Neil
Barrett, Head of Employer Supported Policing, Metropolitan
Police Service said:
"
This partnership looks set to bring better security
for the travelling public and we're pleased to be working
with Metroline as our first partner in what will hopefully
be a pan-London initiative. We have schemes which bring
in Special Constables from a number of industries but
out of all these schemes, I think the BusBeat recruits
will be the most travelled."
-Ends-
Notes to the editor:
- You are invited to
send a representative to the above briefing. Contact
Nicola Vincent, Head of Communications,
Metroline on 020 8218 8831 or email nvincent@metroline.co.uk
- BusBeat is part of the Metropolitan Police Service's
Employer Supported Policing (ESP) initiative, which
sees volunteers from a number of sectors trained to
become Special Constables and deployed in areas relevant
to their day job. The retail scheme, ShopWatch, has
proved successful in a number of areas nationwide.
For media enquiries relating to ESP please contact
Rebecca May on 020 7230 0941 or Simon Fisher on 020
7230 2337.
-
Metroline is one of the top five London-based bus companies,
currently running 13.5% of the capital’s bus
services under contract to Transport for London.
- Metroline carries 250 million passengers every year,
operates 93 routes, covers over 37.5 million journey
miles each year, employs almost 3700 people and runs
a fleet of over 1,200 buses in North, West and Central
London and South Hertfordshire.
- Metroline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Singapore
based ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited, which is the
world's second largest listed land transport company.
Enquiries:
For further Metroline enquiries please contact:
Nicola Vincent, Head of Communications, Metroline 020
8218 8831 |
