See it. Say it. Sorted.

[jon0844]

New variation today. “If you see something which you are unhappy with and don’t want to talk to the onboard team you can text BTP on 61016 and they will meet you at the station you ask them to”.

Good luck with that.

You can be asked questions via the same text service, and depending on the conversation there's no reason that very scenario can't happen. I've been called and asked if the people are still onboard, and where on the train they are, to have the police waiting and ready when it arrived at a large station they were based at/near.

 

[sheff1]

You can be asked questions via the same text service, and depending on the conversation there's no reason that very scenario can't happen. I've been called and asked if the people are still onboard, and where on the train they are, to have the police waiting and ready when it arrived at a large station they were based at/near.

Well obviously it can happen on occasion but if, for eaxmple, I ask BTP to meet me at Edale I doubt it will happen as the announcement promised. If BTP were to head off to Edale () they are not going to reach there before the train had arrived - is the guard really going to wait there for BTP to arrive* ?
The announcement I quoted should finish after "61016" not continue with a promise of action which is not going to happen.

* the only way the guard would even know I had texted 61016 from their train would be if BTP had got a messsage to them.

 

[jon0844]

It is indeed doubtful they're going to turn up at a small station, as I said, although obviously it depends what the situation is.

If it was deemed serious enough, the police would liaise with the signaller and driver of the train to determine a plan. Otherwise meet the train somewhere else, or not at all but seek to download onboard or station CCTV as appropriate for intelligence gathering and perhaps future action.

This isn't any different to regular policing issues.

 

[Dr Hoo]

I have used it for a safeguarding issue at a ‘remote’ station and police attended in feasible timescale given the circumstances.

There are plenty of issues such as potential self harm, runaway juveniles, county lines mules and so on besides more obvious things like vandalism and threatening behaviour on trains.

 

[Siimo]

I have used it for a safeguarding issue at a ‘remote’ station and police attended in feasible timescale given the circumstances.

There are plenty of issues such as potential self harm, runaway juveniles, county lines mules and so on besides more obvious things like vandalism and threatening behaviour on trains.

I think if the railways emphasised all this rather than 'terroristisms' people might be more open to it. I've also pondered if 'something that doesn't look right' is an open invitation to bigots - are we going to have incidents of racists texting imagined crimes because they thought someone was an illegal immigrant or just didn't like them talking in a foreign language? Personally, what I most object to is the scolding, theatrically-outraged tone of voice on SWR, too much like the way primary school teachers would indulge in for some non-offence. A close second is that it feels like willful denial about the wider state of the railways and the country in general - nothing is being 'sorted'.

 

[Gourlish]

I think if the railways emphasised all this rather than 'terroristisms' people might be more open to it. I've also pondered if 'something that doesn't look right' is an open invitation to bigots - are we going to have incidents of racists texting imagined crimes because they thought someone was an illegal immigrant or just didn't like them talking in a foreign language? Personally, what I most object to is the scolding, theatrically-outraged tone of voice on SWR, too much like the way primary school teachers would indulge in for some non-offence. A close second is that it feels like willful denial about the wider state of the railways and the country in general - nothing is being 'sorted'.

Prior to the rollout of See It, Say It, Sorted in 2016 I think train stations periodically played announcements at roughly the same frequency that reminded passengers not to leave baggage unattended, and the See It, Say It, Sorted announcements largely replaced these. While I think the campaign covers more than just unattended baggage, the wording of the original See It, Say It, Sorted announcement is definitely vaguer than the security related announcements they replaced.

The GWR Intercity Express announcements have a relatively pleasant voice compared with those of a lot of operators, and GWR's female voice does actually pronounce the slogan properly unlike those used onboard some other trains.

 

[bramling]

I think if the railways emphasised all this rather than 'terroristisms' people might be more open to it. I've also pondered if 'something that doesn't look right' is an open invitation to bigots - are we going to have incidents of racists texting imagined crimes because they thought someone was an illegal immigrant or just didn't like them talking in a foreign language? Personally, what I most object to is the scolding, theatrically-outraged tone of voice on SWR, too much like the way primary school teachers would indulge in for some non-offence. A close second is that it feels like willful denial about the wider state of the railways and the country in general - nothing is being 'sorted'.

Yes it’s one of the things I dislike about it. Something that “doesn’t look right” is as subjective as it is vague, and there’s a lot of curtain-twitch types in this country who seem to feel it’s their right to take affront at things done by others.

 

[styles]

Yes it’s one of the things I dislike about it. Something that “doesn’t look right” is as subjective as it is vague, and there’s a lot of curtain-twitch types in this country who seem to feel it’s their right to take affront at things done by others.

Is there any evidence that this approach has led to spurious curtain-twitching type complaints to 61016 though? I'm sceptical in all honesty; and even if there were such complaints I'd be surprised if they were statistically higher for 61016 than for 999 or 101.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

For all those saying 61016 doesn't work; I texted it today at 1815. Twenty minutes later we arrived at the next station to find BTP waiting as requested.
An hour after that I got a phone call to say an arrest had been made and to take a statement, now 150 minutes after the text was sent I have a statement in my inbox to sign!

 

[321362]

A few months back I had to report a really serious incident, which I won't go into as there is an active police investigation around it ongoing, and it took BTP 48 hours to call me back about it

 

[styles]

A few months back I had to report a really serious incident, which I won't go into as there is an active police investigation around it ongoing, and it took BTP 48 hours to call me back about it

That doesn't necessarily mean BTP weren't doing anything about it, unless you're saying it was an actively dangerous situation requiring an emergency response and nobody turned up (it's not an emergency number)?

 

[321362]

That doesn't necessarily mean BTP weren't doing anything about it, unless you're saying it was an actively dangerous situation requiring an emergency response and nobody turned up (it's not an emergency number)?

It was not an emergency, but it was a criminal act that still required actions to be taken with the individuals involved

 

[styles]

It was not an emergency, but it was a criminal act that still required actions to be taken with the individuals involved

Sure, but why is it a problem that it was 48 hours to provide an update? The BTP may well have been investigating in the meantime, or it was just a lower priority than some other work at the time. It's courteous to contact people who report crimes but it's not critical unless there's time-sensitive evidence which may be destroyed otherwise.

 

[skyhigh]

It was not an emergency, but it was a criminal act that still required actions to be taken with the individuals involved

Calls/texts are triaged immediately and response prioritised based on urgency.

If it's not an emergency, not an ongoing crime, no need to apprehend suspects etc then requests will be made for CCTV so it doesn't get overwritten and the crime allocated to an officer to deal with when they are able to.

Without knowing what happened it's impossible to say if the response time was acceptable, but I would have thought you'd have at least got a text message in reply much sooner, if not a phone call?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Oct 2025 ==

I think if the railways emphasised all this rather than 'terroristisms' people might be more open to it.

The BTP advertising campaign has highlighted this.

See the attached poster, which shows examples of:
"Man drunk causing trouble at Plainfields station"
"Very rowdy on 11pm train to Berryford. Please send help!"
"Teens vandalising Eastbridge station Platform 4"

 

[Krokodil]

Calls/texts are triaged immediately and response prioritised based on urgency.

In theory, yes. And it does work most of the time. However some do slip through the net. I was spat at a few years ago and had to phone 0800 40 50 40 when I still hadn't received a response to the text an hour later (they're usually pretty prompt to at least send a reference number). The text had been overlooked.

 

[saismee]

New announcements at some GA stations now highlight the "6-101-6" number with how it is emphasised.

 

[Krokodil]

New announcements at some GA stations now highlight the "6-101-6" number with how it is emphasised.

Same at TfW stations

 

[WirralLine]

Same at TfW stations

At Chester yesterday I noticed the new "This is British Transport Police" announcements going on about "6-101-6". 3 of them, each with slightly different wording, all 3 variants playing within a 2 minute time frame - the second announcement immediately after the first, the third announcement 30 seconds after the second, then all repeated again a few minutes later.

Incredibly grating - I thought it was said announcement noise clutter should be reduced!

 

[Howardh]

I was on a train coming back from a Pride event and as there was a seat, sat opposite a woman who then gave me verbal grief throughout the short journey and at one point grabbed me. I really wanted to contact that 60106 number - but simply couldn't remember it; and as my journey was short decided to lump it and get off and didn't make a complaint.

Much rather have the number shown on the train itself than have it repeatedly bombarded into my ears. No matter how many times I hear it - when I needed it I couldn't recall it.

 

[Krokodil]

No matter how many times I hear it - when I needed it I couldn't recall it.

You still can't recall it now, it's 61016.

 

[Howardh]

You still can't recall it now, it's 61016.

There you go...

 

[AdamWW]

Cardiff Queen Street has a new version, starting something like "This is the British Transport Police"

It starts out in Welsh, then an English version specifically saying to call 61016 if you see an unattended bag. Then repeats (Welsh then English) but this time (in English anyway) saying to call it if you see anything unusual.

I'm curious at the reasoning that someone will diligently listen to it second time round and notice it's not actually a repeat.

It took me a few goes to spot it.

 

[Steddenm]

Cardiff Queen Street has a new version, starting something like "This is the British Transport Police"

It starts out in Welsh, then an English version specifically saying to call 61016 if you see an unattended bag. Then repeats (Welsh then English) but this time (in English anyway) saying to call it if you see anything unusual.

I'm curious at the reasoning that someone will diligently listen to it second time round and notice it's not actually a repeat.

It took me a few goes to spot it.

Call? You mean text? If you call 61016 nothing happens apart from a wrong number tone.

 

[AdamWW]

Call? You mean text?

Yes.

 

[StephenHunter]

At Chester yesterday I noticed the new "This is British Transport Police" announcements going on about "6-101-6". 3 of them, each with slightly different wording, all 3 variants playing within a 2 minute time frame - the second announcement immediately after the first, the third announcement 30 seconds after the second, then all repeated again a few minutes later.

Incredibly grating - I thought it was said announcement noise clutter should be reduced!

The Welsh version of the phrase is amusing though.

 

[AdamWW]

The Welsh version of the phrase is amusing though.

It is, but I find it the novelty wears off after a while.

 

[Bikeman78]

At Chester yesterday I noticed the new "This is British Transport Police" announcements going on about "6-101-6". 3 of them, each with slightly different wording, all 3 variants playing within a 2 minute time frame - the second announcement immediately after the first, the third announcement 30 seconds after the second, then all repeated again a few minutes later.

Incredibly grating - I thought it was said announcement noise clutter should be reduced!

I've noticed the same at Cardiff Central. I've not timed it but I think the interval is 10 minutes at most. I'm amazed that the government continues to be so paranoid.

 

[WirralLine]

I've noticed the same at Cardiff Central. I've not timed it but I think the interval is 10 minutes at most. I'm amazed that the government continues to be so paranoid.

I didnt time it at first, it was a guess, however i did time it in Wrexham last week. 3 see it say it sorted announcements in 2 languages (6 announcements total 3 English 3 Welsh) running one after the other for 3 whole minutes.

 

[The exile]

I've noticed the same at Cardiff Central. I've not timed it but I think the interval is 10 minutes at most. I'm amazed that the government continues to be so paranoid.

Must be the Welsh government, I think. Doesn’t seem to be happening on the other side of the Severn Estuary.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Anyone who can’t recall 61016 should save it into their phone now, with a suitable descriptor, e.g. B T Police TEXT (or whatever helps you).