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Cleveland Police and Stagecoach have joined forces to combat abusive passengers who assault bus drivers by spitting. The drivers have been issued with ‘Spit Kits' allowing them to collect the samples and pass them onto police to analyse and track the offender through DNA evidence in the saliva. From the 1st September 2008 this programme will be going live in the Cleveland police area. Detective Inspector Ray Morton, Head of Crime Scene Investigation said: "The initiative has been successful in the Northumbria police area and although we do not anticipate many incidents it will give drivers the reassurance of being able to collect a sample to put alongside any other evidence from the incident to bring any offenders to justice." Operational officers within Cleveland police will ensure the offences are investigated thoroughly and have been briefed on the new campaign.
Nigel Winter, Operations Director for Stagecoach said: "We are pleased to be working alongside Cleveland police as part of this scheme. Although such incidents are rare, this sends a clear message that unacceptable behaviour that disrupts the comfort of our passengers will not be tolerated onboard our buses." http://www.cleveland.police.uk/ |
