Have we got our priorities right?

Sep 5 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

AT A time when Liverpool has been revealed as the UK’s fourth-worst area for gun crime, it may seem odd that courts are currently clogged with 600 Merseyrail passengers who are being prosecuted for putting their feet on train seats.

Yet these are the two extremes of law enforcement revealed by stories we carry today. On the one hand, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Bernard Hogan- Howe raises concerns about the "worry- ing number of guns" being taken off the streets. On the other, a 19-year-old university student who hopes to become a teacher is hauled before magistrates for the offence – in Merseyrail’s eyes – of resting her feet on a train seat.

In many people’s minds, this would seem to be further evidence of a glaring discrepancy between the zeal with which minor offences are prosecuted, while serious crime remains undetected or unpunished.

Mr Hogan-Howe said that, while gun crime had gone down on Merseyside, the number of youngsters getting involved with guns was going up. He added that, while police still wanted to charge people, the priority was to remove guns from the streets.

In Merseyrail’s case, a "zero tolerance" approach is taken to seat offenders, with no verbal warning given, and a court appearance the automatic outcome. The train operator denies it is taking a drac- onian approach. However, magistrates in Chester clearly disagreed, giving an absolute discharge to Kathleen Jennings when she appeared before them.

Merseyrail has defended its policy, saying it is simply responding to the demands of its customers. However, just as passengers have a duty not to behave in an anti-social manner, the train oper- ator also needs to ensure that it applies this rule sensibly and, more importantly, equitably, to avoid the suspicion that it is picking on easy targets.

Regular train users will know that, despite this zero tolerance approach, seat offenders are still a big problem on the network – and it is the biggest, scariest and noisiest passengers who seem to get away with it.