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DNA kits to trace spitting passengers
By Ross Lydall, Evening Standard Last updated at 11:03am on 31.05.07
Bus drivers will be issued with
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. "The critical press is full of statistics that indicate massive increases [in crime] and that it isn't a safe system, when it really is a safe system,"
Reader views (7)
My dad works as a bus driver and yesterday was spat at by a man who had mistakenly got on the wrong bus. Such behaviour is disgusting, an infringement of another human being's human right. The spitter lost his 'right' when he decided to act in a way deemed unacceptable by the majority of people (the law). Since when did being spat at become an anticipated part of a bus driver's job? The swabbing initiative demands the unanimous support of the public and frankly, I'm appalled that anyone should disagree.
- Rachel, London, England
Now I know why we have so many new UK television personalities here... they're all deserting the sinking ship of Europe.
- Dena, Jacksonville, U.S.A.
How the hell did these kids learn it was okay to spit at adults in the first place?
Instead of bureaucrats continually playing "catch up" with band aids and DNA Kits, why don't parents try curbing this perverse public behavior with discipline in the home (if they're even allowed to anymore)?
- C, New York, NY
What a joke! You mean to tell me that Englands taxpayers are going to actually sit by and allow their pounds to be wasted on DNA for spitting? And is this really viewed as a "crime" in England? Sptitting? I could think of a hell of a lot of other things to spend money on, and things that don't infringe on the rights of others. No one has a right to take DNA samples in the hopes of incriminating someone.
- John Henley, Arkansas, USA
Perhaps if there were conductors on the bus there'd be less trouble, especially on the upper deck.
- Adam, Harrow, UK
This is a good idea but what are they going to do once they know who spat? Give them a slap on the wrist or give them a deferred slap on the wrist providing they promise to be good for the next month or two?
- Isabel, Woking, England
If it "really is a safe system" as suggested then why the need for DNA spit kits for bus drivers? Also, why the need for a protective screen for the bus driver? Who's fooling who?
- Roland, Basel, Switzerland
