MSP Rona Mackay has welcomed through the passing of a Bill to integrate the British Transport Police with Police Scotland.
Ms Mackay, the deputy convener of the Justice Committee, had scrutinised The Railway Policing (Scotland) Bill (2017) in the committee and chamber, and called its passing a “historic” moment for Scotland and the SNP government.
Following the MSPs’ approval of the Bill railway policing is now under the command of Police Scotland.
Ms Mackay said: “The passing of the Bill is a historic moment for policing and devolution in Scotland. It will see the specialism of transport policing retained, built upon and made fully accountable to the people of Scotland.
“Railway policing was answerable to the British Transport Police Authority, the Department for Transport and the Secretary of State for Transport in England and Wales. That was simply undemocratic.
“Making this change gives our railway officers access to the specialist resources of the UK’s second largest police force including, crucially, counter-terrorism capabilities.”
ENDS
More information: https://news.gov.scot/news/british-transport-police-integration