THE FIRST RAILWAY IN ENGLAND (STOCKTON/DARLINGTON) WAS COMPLETED IN 1825, AND RAILWAY POLICE WERE FIRST MENTIONED IN A 1830 STATUTE THAT PROVIDED FOR JUSTICES IN THE COUNTIES SERVED BY A RAILWAY TO APPOINT PERSONS NOMINATED BY THE RAILWAY COMPANY TO ACT AS CONSTABLES WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE RAILWAYS. IN 1838, THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY POLICE REGULATIONS SPECIFIED COMPREHENSIVE DUTIES FOR THE RAILWAY POLICE, WITH DUTIES CONSISTING GENERALLY OF THE PRESERVATION OF ORDER IN ALL THE STATIONS AND ON THE RAILWAY LINE. IN THE PERIOD OF RAILWAY BUILDING, DUTIES ALSO INCLUDED KEEPING PEACE BETWEEN THE WORKERS AND PROTECTING THE CONSTRUCTION SITES. SPECIFIC CASES OF RAILWAY POLICE ACTIVITIES DURING THIS PERIOD ARE DESCRIBED. IN 1948, THE BRITISH TRANSPORT COMMISSION POLICE FORCE WAS ESTABLISHED. LATER THE WORD 'COMMISSION' WAS DROPPED AS THE FORCE CAME TO BE KNOWN AS THE BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE. UNDER EXISTING STATUTE, THE TRANSPORT POLICE ARE GIVEN LAW ENFORCEMENT JURISDICTION ON AND IN THE VICINITY OF THE RAILWAYS, WITH 'VICINITY' GIVEN A GENEROUS INTERPRETATION. THE PRESENT FORCE IS JUST OVER 2,000, WITH DIVISIONS IN MOST MAJOR CITIES. THE HEADQUARTERS IS IN LONDON, WHERE THERE IS A CENTRAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION WHICH DEALS WITH THE HIGHLY ORGANIZED CRIME COMMITTEE BY PROFESSIONAL GANGS. THESE INCLUDE MAILBAG ROBBERIES AND THEFTS BETWEEN LONDON TERMINALS. LOCAL FORCES ALSO HAVE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISIONS. CRIMES HANDLED NUMBER ABOUT 65,000 TO 70,000 IN A YEAR, WITH AN AVERAGE CLEARANCE RATE OF ABOUT 36 PERCENT. EXAMPLES OF CRIMES SOLVED BY THE TRANSPORT POLICE ARE DESCRIBED IN SOME DETAIL. THE TEXT OF AUDIENCE QUESTIONS AND SPEAKER RESPONSES FOLLOWING THIS PRESENTATION IS INCLUDED. (RCB)