Railroad police

Railroad police or railway police (called Bahnpolizei in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland) are persons responsible for the protection of railroad (or railway) properties, facilities and personnel as well as public rail transit systems. Their exact roles differs from country to country. In some countries railroad police are not different from that of any other police agency, while in others they are more related to a type of security police. Some are given extensive additional authority where in other jurisdictions are more restricted.

In the United States and Canada, railroad police are employed by the major Class I railroads, as well as some smaller ones. In other countries, this work is typically done by territorial police forces rather than specialized agencies. In Great Britain, railways fall under the jurisdiction of the British Transport Police, a regional transit police force based on Great Britain that is responsible for policing all railways and some public transit systems on Great Britain but not Northern Ireland.

The Brazilian's Federal Railroad Police was created in 1852, by decree of the emperor Dom Pedro II being the oldest police agency in Brazil. Was created to protect all riches that were carried on iron rails. There are some proposals in the Brazilian Senate to reactivate this police agency, as it is considered important to national security.

In Canada, the construction of railways served a similar nation-building function as it did in the U.S. and also brought new police agencies into existence. Years before Confederation, railway constables were given full police powers within one quarter mile of company property and vehicles. The Canadian Pacific Railway initially relied on the Dominion Police, which later became the North-West Mounted Police during construction of the transcontinental railroad, but by the latter 1880s were employing their own police.

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