SAFER Travel has relaunched their ‘See Something Say Something’ campaign, a text service for bus users to report incidents of antisocial behaviour (ASB) on their journey.
Passengers simply text the words “SeeSay” along with details of what’s happened to 81018.
A dedicated team of ASB officers from West Midlands Police and British Transport Police will investigate every report and use a range of methods – including community resolutions – to deter and tackle nuisance behaviour on the buses.
Officers say each report helps the team to build an intelligence picture of anti social behaviour and identify patterns on specific routes, areas or times.
The text service has previously run for 12 years, and received around 1,200 reports in 2019.
For instance a passenger’s text report of anti social behaviour on an Erdington bus led to a prolific offender being identified via National Express West Midlands CCTV and sent back to prison.
The service has also contributed to easing pressure on West Midlands Police’s control room and reducing the number of calls made to 101 for low-level nuisance behaviour.
The relaunched campaign features a new text number, 81018, and redesigned posters which have been placed on over 2,500 buses across the region as well as at bus stations and stops.
Anti social behaviour covers a wide range of behaviours from smoking, littering, playing loud music, being rude to other passengers or staff, drinking alcohol in public spaces and other behaviour which causes others to feel uncomfortable or alarmed.
Inspector Rachel Crump, head of the Safer Travel policing team, said: “Our See Something Say Something campaign is a crucial service which provides passengers with the opportunity to discreetly report behaviour which is making them feel uncomfortable without drawing attention to themselves.
“Our ASB officers are experts in using a range of methods to reduce negative behaviour which can have a huge impact on a bus passenger’s journey, sometimes deterring them from using public transport entirely.
“Every passenger has the right to travel comfortably without feeling harassed or distressed, and we are pleased to support our colleagues in Control Rooms by reducing the number of calls to 101 and instead offering an easy-to-use, free reporting service dedicated to bus users.”
The text service is a non-emergency service and lines are monitored between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
In an emergency, dial 999.
