Sheffield is to see Guardian Angel style Street Rangers on the buses in a bid by Transport bosses to reduce criminal activity and anti-social behaviour on public transport within the city.

These Rangers will travel and patrol on buses in so called "hot" areas such as Manor, Wybourn, Skye Edge, Arbourthorne etc.

Do you think this is a good idea/bad idea?

Will it work? Is it needed?

Who's going to pay for it? Will the price be passed onto the passenger?

A Question who picks these Guardian Angels and who vets these people and what powers will these people have?

if this happens i'm 100% in favour of it...the bus drivers @ night should have more protection and so should the passengers......but its not going to stop the brick through the window is it :?

Isn't this why we have a police force?

Originally posted by Andy
Isn't this why we have a police force?

When was the last time you saw a Police Officer on board a bus? But true, you could argue that they should be responsible.

Bus drivers have a right to peform their job without fear of assault, so I'm for it, but as Jon says, who appoints them and who pays for it?

the consumer will always end up paying...no surprise there...why can't rough pikey's be either banned from using buses and should be made to walk...mind you that would only make them fit enough to mug some old granny.......... or maybe they should be made to sit on the lower level so they can be kept an eye on...flamin' council should pay:x

Originally posted by Miss_60
...flamin' council should pay:x

That's our money you're talking about. Should it come out of the school budget, coz they're kids, social services budget, coz they're probably dhss scroungers, library budget, coz they obviously don't read so the library budget should be cut accordingly, leisure budget, coz they don't use parks, housing budget, coz they should be at home?

G*d I do go on, don't I?

An excellent Idea, with the current crime wave, the people of Sheffield need all the help they can get!

I think the issue is getting confused here. Sheffield is about to introduce community support officers, similar to those found in London and other major cities. They are funded by the government (via the police). You can read this for further information.
http://www.southyorks.police.uk/local_polplan/commsafe_cso.htm
http://www.southyorks.police.uk/whatsnew/whatsnew-cso-s.htm

Just hope this isn't another rabbit out of the "Initiatives
Tophat".
What is required is consistent policing with officers visible on
the streets working with local people and backed up by
effective intelligence systems.
Instead we stagger from gimmick to gimmick.Operation
Swag and Inititiative Collarfelt.
Last month you couldn't move for bobbies on the beat (in
fact they almost constituted a riotious assembly) and now
they are rarer than radium.

Why waste money on community support officers? Why not do the job properly and get more police on the street. Trained police who can actually /do something/ instead of calling the 'real' police.

Originally posted by maxt
That's our money you're talking about. Should it come out of the school budget, coz they're kids, social services budget, coz they're probably dhss scroungers, library budget, coz they obviously don't read so the library budget should be cut accordingly, leisure budget, coz they don't use parks, housing budget, coz they should be at home?

G*d I do go on, don't I?
..Perhaps I should have elaborated, the money that is misused by the Council should be ploughed into this effort

Did this ever happen?

Did this ever happen?

Yes, they did it nationwide, by allowing pensioners to travel free.

Yes, they did it nationwide, by allowing pensioners to travel free.Back in 2003, i were still using buses, never saw one, but reading the links Geoff gave out, don;t it'd make a different, they're the fake policemen who can only "ask you politely again not to do it".

Nice to see this thread resurected, it was around the time I join, good days.

Well I was looking at the oldest threads to see if there were any that ought to be revived. Good idea I think.