Transperth Security and Transit Officers
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 6:42 pm
As a former Transit Guard then Transit Officer and now a current serving WAPOL officer, I would like to put all rumors and myths aside and explain who Transperth Security really are and what a Transit Officer is.
Transperth Security are NOT Transit Officers, they are a group of security guards hired from private security group WILSON Security.
Most of them have transferred from Secureforce including their operations manager Mal Evans. The reason why the PTA have hired these people to provide frontline security on the bus network is that there is not enough PTA Transit Officers to cover the entire system. When PTA took over from Westrail or WAGR in late 2003, CEO Reece Waldock vision was to have law enforcement officers ie Transit Guards who have powers of arrest to patrol and maintain the public transport system. His vision was to model it off other networks around the world and have his very own transit police.
Recruiting people to do the job is hard enough nowadays as people who do not want to deal with the antisocial behavior find better jobs and working conditions elsewhere, such as the mines, construction, IT and sales to name a few. We at WAPOL have this problem and so does PTA.
This problem started when Alannah McTiernan had an election promised to have two transit officers on every train after 7pm but obviously she could not find enough people to do the job so they resorted to MSS Security (formally Chubb) to provide these services. If you are not aware, they have revenue protection of their badges and no wreath, meaning that they are not governed by the government, do not have any legal powers and are private security ONLY. Transperth Security ie Wilson Secuirty also fall under this status aswell.
A PTA Transit Officer is a law enforcement officer who do have the same power as police officers except they can only exercise those powers on Public Transport Authority property.
Transit Officers use the same legislation as WAPOL officers including:
• Public Transport Authority Act 2003 and Regulations 2003;
• Government Railways Act 1904;
• Criminal Code;
• Criminal Investigation (Identifying People) Act 2002;
• Protective Custody Act;
• Young Offenders Act 1994;
• Preparing Court Briefs and Prosecution Notices / Summonses;
• Presenting Evidence in Court, and
• Lock-up Procedures and Search Techniques
The only legislation that transit officers cannot legally exercise is the Road Traffic Act.
Transperth Security DO NOT have the powers of arrest, they can only act under the Citizens Act which means that they have the same powers as an ordinary citizen.
Transperth Security are ONLY authorized officers as stated in Sect 56 of the PTA Act and can only request your name, address and date of birth for the purposes of issuing an infringement only. Basically it means that they are a ticket inspector and they cannot do anything if you walk away.
You often hear of Tranperth Security claiming to have arrested someone, ill tell you right now…. All they do is call WAPOL or PTA Transit Officers to attend and we take the offender away. We do not prosecute or take the offender to lock up or watch house. As we do not rely on hearsay evidence as it is admissible in court, as most WAPOL and Transit officers know, all we do is take them around the corner, give them an active move on notice and tell to walk away… that’s it.
Transit Officers on the other hand when they arrest an offender will take them to lock up, compile an arrest brief and prosecution notice and will take you to court. The outcome is the same and you will get a criminal record. Transit Officers have the same access to IMS (police mainframe) and can look up anybody if needed.
The amount of times I’ve attended Mirrabooka, Booragoon, and City bus stations to deal with transperth security that have no idea what they have just done and arrested someone for something weak like smoking. Ask them where do they get their powers from, most of them wont even know or they'll just say that their boss said they can. Ask them where the charge of disorderly behaviour comes from, what section and what legislation it comes from? They have no idea of the WA legal system.
I have spoken to most bus drivers and they have even told us that Transperth Security are useless and if they have any trouble on their bus they will divert straight to the railway station, as they know PTA Transit Officers can actually deal with the situation.
Transperth Security are now wearing PTA Transit Officer uniforms and WAPOL style yellow safety vests with stripes on their shoulders (yes I know, going above and beyond their job description) to make it look like that there are more transit officers on the network I’ll tell you right now that this wont be happening much longer as the commissioner of WAPOL and PTA Senior Management and the RBTU have and will rectify this issue. You will see them wearing white Wilson Security shirts very soon.
Also, the reason why PTA Transit Officers where orange safety vests is that orange in railway by law is a signal of caution and this is recognized worldwide.
PTA made the biggest mistake in putting these people in the blue uniform, alot of these Wilson guards are telling everyone that they are transit officers and even WAPOL, its makes WAPOL and PTA Transit Officers look unprofessional.
I hope this thread is useful to help identify the different law enforcement/security on the PTA network.
Transperth Security are NOT Transit Officers, they are a group of security guards hired from private security group WILSON Security.
Most of them have transferred from Secureforce including their operations manager Mal Evans. The reason why the PTA have hired these people to provide frontline security on the bus network is that there is not enough PTA Transit Officers to cover the entire system. When PTA took over from Westrail or WAGR in late 2003, CEO Reece Waldock vision was to have law enforcement officers ie Transit Guards who have powers of arrest to patrol and maintain the public transport system. His vision was to model it off other networks around the world and have his very own transit police.
Recruiting people to do the job is hard enough nowadays as people who do not want to deal with the antisocial behavior find better jobs and working conditions elsewhere, such as the mines, construction, IT and sales to name a few. We at WAPOL have this problem and so does PTA.
This problem started when Alannah McTiernan had an election promised to have two transit officers on every train after 7pm but obviously she could not find enough people to do the job so they resorted to MSS Security (formally Chubb) to provide these services. If you are not aware, they have revenue protection of their badges and no wreath, meaning that they are not governed by the government, do not have any legal powers and are private security ONLY. Transperth Security ie Wilson Secuirty also fall under this status aswell.
A PTA Transit Officer is a law enforcement officer who do have the same power as police officers except they can only exercise those powers on Public Transport Authority property.
Transit Officers use the same legislation as WAPOL officers including:
• Public Transport Authority Act 2003 and Regulations 2003;
• Government Railways Act 1904;
• Criminal Code;
• Criminal Investigation (Identifying People) Act 2002;
• Protective Custody Act;
• Young Offenders Act 1994;
• Preparing Court Briefs and Prosecution Notices / Summonses;
• Presenting Evidence in Court, and
• Lock-up Procedures and Search Techniques
The only legislation that transit officers cannot legally exercise is the Road Traffic Act.
Transperth Security DO NOT have the powers of arrest, they can only act under the Citizens Act which means that they have the same powers as an ordinary citizen.
Transperth Security are ONLY authorized officers as stated in Sect 56 of the PTA Act and can only request your name, address and date of birth for the purposes of issuing an infringement only. Basically it means that they are a ticket inspector and they cannot do anything if you walk away.
You often hear of Tranperth Security claiming to have arrested someone, ill tell you right now…. All they do is call WAPOL or PTA Transit Officers to attend and we take the offender away. We do not prosecute or take the offender to lock up or watch house. As we do not rely on hearsay evidence as it is admissible in court, as most WAPOL and Transit officers know, all we do is take them around the corner, give them an active move on notice and tell to walk away… that’s it.
Transit Officers on the other hand when they arrest an offender will take them to lock up, compile an arrest brief and prosecution notice and will take you to court. The outcome is the same and you will get a criminal record. Transit Officers have the same access to IMS (police mainframe) and can look up anybody if needed.
The amount of times I’ve attended Mirrabooka, Booragoon, and City bus stations to deal with transperth security that have no idea what they have just done and arrested someone for something weak like smoking. Ask them where do they get their powers from, most of them wont even know or they'll just say that their boss said they can. Ask them where the charge of disorderly behaviour comes from, what section and what legislation it comes from? They have no idea of the WA legal system.
I have spoken to most bus drivers and they have even told us that Transperth Security are useless and if they have any trouble on their bus they will divert straight to the railway station, as they know PTA Transit Officers can actually deal with the situation.
Transperth Security are now wearing PTA Transit Officer uniforms and WAPOL style yellow safety vests with stripes on their shoulders (yes I know, going above and beyond their job description) to make it look like that there are more transit officers on the network I’ll tell you right now that this wont be happening much longer as the commissioner of WAPOL and PTA Senior Management and the RBTU have and will rectify this issue. You will see them wearing white Wilson Security shirts very soon.
Also, the reason why PTA Transit Officers where orange safety vests is that orange in railway by law is a signal of caution and this is recognized worldwide.
PTA made the biggest mistake in putting these people in the blue uniform, alot of these Wilson guards are telling everyone that they are transit officers and even WAPOL, its makes WAPOL and PTA Transit Officers look unprofessional.
I hope this thread is useful to help identify the different law enforcement/security on the PTA network.