Lesson plan
Operation Shield
Operation Shield is an initiative led by British Transport Police, where security scanners are to be deployed at major railway stations with the aim of discouraging criminal activity on the rail network. The trial of the portable equipment was undertaken by BTP in the London area and has been used in towns and cities such as Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Preston, Blackpool, Leeds and Edinburgh. The initiative came after the use of metal detectors at several London Underground (tube) stations led to 100 arrests and the seizure of 68 knives after around 10,000 passengers were checked. Police resources include: * uniformed and plainclothes police officers, * sniffer dogs, * mobile scanners. These were deployed at stations where robbery was known to be a problem. As well as catching those carrying weapons, officers were able to spot individuals shying away from the detectors and made a number of arrests for other offences such as possession of drugs and stolen goods. The equipment is easily moved from one location to another making it ideal to target locations with an element of surprise. • Operation Shield is separate to the Department for Transport's high-profile security scanning trial at Paddington Station which was set up as part of the response to the July 7 bombings.
Article summary
Operation Shield is an initiative led by British Transport Police, where security scanners are to be deployed at major railway stations with the aim of discouraging criminal activity on the rail network. The trial of the portable equipment was undertaken by BTP in the London area and has been used in towns and cities such as Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Preston, Blackpool, Leeds and Edinburgh. The initiative came after the use of metal detectors at several London Underground (tube) stations led to 100 arrests and the seizure of 68 knives after around 10,000 passengers were checked. Police resources include: * uniformed and plainclothes police officers, * sniffer dogs, * mobile scanners. These were deployed at stations where robbery was known to be a problem. As well as catching those carrying weapons, officers were able to spot individuals shying away from the detectors and made a number of arrests for other offences such as possession of drugs and stolen goods. The equipment is easily moved from one location to another making it ideal to target locations with an element of surprise. • Operation Shield is separate to the Department for Transport's high-profile security scanning trial at Paddington Station which was set up as part of the response to the July 7 bombings.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.