Layed-off Guilford RR police

Now that Pan Am has taken the reins, any chance those poor guys that got let go with no notice might get their jobs back?

Never! It's still the same company, still the same ole people working; just in a different name.

By the way welcome to railroad.net

b&m 1566 wrote:Never! It's still the same company, still the same ole people working; just in a different name.

By the way welcome to railroad.net

Why, thank you.

They will never be called back. I think everyone has realized the RR only needs to have a safety department and claims dept. Maybe at most one manager with rr police powers for anything serious which happens once every ten years. They should get rid of them all, they are the biggest waste of money driving around doing nothing but wasting expensive gas.

SPACEMONKEY wrote:They will never be called back. I think everyone has realized the RR only needs to have a safety department and claims dept. Maybe at most one manager with rr police powers for anything serious which happens once every ten years. They should get rid of them all, they are the biggest waste of money driving around doing nothing but wasting expensive gas

HOLY MACKEREL

Same clowns in a different circus........

You know... For once I'm kind of siding with Pan Am with this one. I think local law enforcement can handled issues that happen with trains going through there community. I don't see the need for a police force to watch over a freight train. If it is a Hazmat train that needs watching; a call to the state police or sheriff’s office would be sufficient enough I think. They can keep an eye on it as it passes through. However I do feel the railroad should have enough of its own police to keep an eye on the major yards. For passenger trains like that of the MBTA a police department of is own is needed given the fact that there dealing with a large amount of people.

I also agree with that statement. I know from listening to the Melrose police scaner, that within 2 or 3 minutes of being contacted by the T, Melrose PD will have sector 1 or sector 2 on site. This has been happening about once or twice a week, mainly between the fellsway and the Highlands station.

Only problem is, the RR runs through some remote locations in Maine, Western Mass., and New York, the local or county PD only have one or two officers in many towns (some have none at all), they cannot handle the additional calls that the RR may put on them if the RR does not have it's own PD.

As I see it, the railroad police department personnel are not only trained
in police work but also in railroad operations for the most part. Many if
not most local and state police do not have very much knowledge of
railroad operations and proceedures. For that reason alone, it seems to
me that it is sensible for a railroad to have its own police department and
have people in key locations.
I would suspect that the police officers who were laid off by the railroad
can get positions on other railroads as their craft is highly skilled and is
considered quite important by most railroads.
Noel Weaver

They are NOT trained in anything special, word is they have no one to train them anymore because he got let go for allegedly committed an indecent assault on another officer. So they have no one to left to train them in anything. The cities and towns then operate in are more well equipped then the rrpd ever dreamed of being, and they can call in specialist (state, feds, etc) if needed, the RRPD are by law, not allowed on regular police freq. so they can't call direct for anything they need, they ahve to call in to a train dispatcher that in most cases has no idea of police work and what it involves.

b&m 1566 wrote:You know... For once I'm kind of siding with Pan Am with this one. I think local law enforcement can handled issues that happen with trains going through there community. I don't see the need for a police force to watch over a freight train. If it is a Hazmat train that needs watching; a call to the state police or sheriff’s office would be sufficient enough I think. They can keep an eye on it as it passes through. However I do feel the railroad should have enough of its own police to keep an eye on the major yards. For passenger trains like that of the MBTA a police department of is own is needed given the fact that there dealing with a large amount of people.

I agree with Noel. Yes the railroad pays taxes to the local towns, and feels they should be able to get the town's police to tend to their property since they are contibuting via taxes....this seems to be CSXT's way of looking at it in the Northeast. However, there are some city cops that are clueless about railroad operations. I was once approached by an MBTA cop who looked like he was only 18 years old. He asked me who has authority to be on the right of way......I thought he was asking who controlled it, but he was asking who was allowed.....come on!!! This was a MBTA cop on a MBTA Commuter Line, how ridiculos is that!!!

As for the Pan Am/ Guilford laying off their police force, I've heard they shot themselves in the foot because most of the local law enforcement won't step foot on rr property since they are union and aren't going to help do the job of a fellow union cop who was fired in an attempt to save $$. I totally agree with that.

CSX Conductor wrote:As for the Pan Am/ Guilford laying off their police force, I've heard they shot themselves in the foot because most of the local law enforcement won't step foot on rr property since they are union and aren't going to help do the job of a fellow union cop who was fired in an attempt to save $$. I totally agree with that.

I don't know about this - I suppose the police can avoid routine patrol of railroad property if not explicity ordered to patrol by their superiors, but if they are not responding to Pan Am's calls then that would be immediate grounds for suspension, if not outright dismissal (and we know Pan Am is quite knowledgable about bureaucracy). I can't see the police risking their jobs for that.

SPACEMONKEY wrote:They are NOT trained in anything special, word is they have no one to train them anymore because he got let go for allegedly committed an indecent assault on another officer. So they have no one to left to train them in anything. The cities and towns then operate in are more well equipped then the rrpd ever dreamed of being, and they can call in specialist (state, feds, etc) if needed, the RRPD are by law, not allowed on regular police freq. so they can't call direct for anything they need, they ahve to call in to a train dispatcher that in most cases has no idea of police work and what it involves.

B&M RR Police are (were) trained at MA State Police Academy, just like any other local or state PD. They have full police powers and full juristiction in any town the RR operates in,and they can access assistance from any local or state PD via radio. They are not "rent a cops", they carry weapons. Similar situations would be MBTA Police, Boston Housing Police, MA Environmental Police, college campus police.

They are a duplicate of the city and town cops!! so ture, exactly what I was saying, they are NOT trained in anything special, they are a usless waste of money for the RR, they already have the tax bill for the cities and towns the run through why pay your own police department on top of all that? plus the liability? it's just not worth it. I hear all the RR cops that were laid off are working already working on other departments and are much better off, they would be crazy to go back to a private outfit that can't support a police department with equip. training etc. As far as RR operations, any city or town can send it's officers to operation life saver classes and learn all about RR operations, I hear most police departments already have sent officers and are ready for any incidents.