The Dutch railway company NS wants to start a trial where 75 security staff will be given a baton. The transport company hopes this will contribute to the safety of its employees. In recent years, train staff have been increasingly confronted with violence, resulting in injuries to employees.
The NS has submitted a request to the Ministry of Justice and Security for the trial. It must first give permission.
It concerns equipping employees of the Service & Security department. A total of 680 employees work there. These are special investigating officers (boa’s) who walk around stations in bright yellow safety clothing. They intervene, among other things, when there are aggressive travelers on the train or at the station. For this, they are also allowed to use force, arrest people and issue fines. They also wear a bodycam and handcuffs.
Itai Birger, director of social safety at NS, calls it “confronting” that the NS feels compelled to investigate which means employees can use to deal with aggressive travelers.
NS staff have increasingly faced violence in recent years. Last year, there were 1,095 reports of physical and verbal aggression against NS employees. That is 5 percent more than the year before. The attacks led to injury in 388 cases. In almost nine out of ten cases, it was minor injury.
“That is at odds with the resources and powers they (security staff, ed.) have to do the job properly,” says Birger. According to him, the NS has already taken many measures to improve safety, but he wants to “test all means that can further contribute to it.”
The employees themselves think “differently” about whether a baton belongs to their job, reports the NS.