World | UK
Bus drivers to be supplied DNA kits to trace spitting passengers
Bus drivers are to be issued with DNA kits so that passengers who spit on them can be traced by police.
- Evening Standard
- Published: 00:00 June 1, 2007
London: Bus drivers are to be issued with DNA kits so that passengers who spit on them can be traced by police.
The "spit kits" are already supplied at all 275 Tube stations and are expected to be rolled out this summer across London's 7,000-strong bus fleet.
It is the latest initiative against anti-social behaviour on buses and has coincided with the Mayor's introduction of free bus travel for under-16s.
The DNA kits will allow drivers to take swabs of saliva that can be passed to the police and checked against criminal records. Transport for London says that about seven out of 10 samples provides a match.
A TfL spokeswoman said: "We have spit kits at every London Underground station, where they have been used successfully in a number of police investigations of assaults." The move was welcomed by London bus drivers' union Unite. However, it said more needed to be done to minimise crime on buses. New figures released by TfL to the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act found that in the year since free bus travel was introduced in September 2005 there were 5,701 reports of youth crime on buses - up 55 per cent on the 3,666 reports in the previous 12-month period.
Tom Scanlon, secretary of Unite's T&G section, said: "It is important for the travelling public to recognise that the bus driver has a stressful and responsible job to do and should not be put under added pressure. Free travel reduces the scope for confrontations over fares." TfL commissioner Peter Hendy admitted there had been an increase in crime by under-16s but at a time when the number of journeys by this age group had increased by more than a third.
Share this article
UK
Tough love moulds young minds best
Wanted man sends in replacement photo
Two British ticketholders share £90m jackpot
Mum dies trying to save son from blaze
Meeting the Queen with pen tucked behind ear!
Brown under fire over Afghanistan policies
Politician could get time in prison after admitting expenses scam
Call for scientific advisers to be free from interference
More from World
News Editor's choice
-
Ajtebi's phenomenal assent
The former camel jockey was at the peak of his powers when upstaging Garret Gomez
-
US pushing for more aid to Philippines
Obama administration eyeing $667m security assistance package
-
Mohammad launches H1N1 campaign
Shaikh Mohammad was the first one to receive the H1N1 vaccine.
