Taxi Driver Online

Undercover police target illegal taxi pick-ups in operation

An undercover police operation in Peterborough to catch private hire taxis illegally picking up passengers without bookings has snared four drivers.

For the first time an all-female team of city police officers, dressed for a night out, their warrant cards, mace and handcuffs concealed in their handbags and their normal sturdy footwear swapped for stilettos, blended in with city centre revellers.

Following the operation four drivers who picked up members of the plain-clothes team have been summoned to police interviews and could face court action.

The operation on Friday night to crackdown on illegal taxi touting had been organised because of safety fears for young women in Peterborough after two alleged sexual assaults had been reported this year by women driven home in what they believed were private hire cabs they had flagged down in the street.

Revellers could put themselves at risk by jumping into un-booked private hire cars in the street because if they are involved in an accident they are not insured.

Another problem caused by the battle for fares between the 600 licensed private hire cabs and Hackney carriages has been rash parking from some drivers that has meant emergency services struggled to reach the scene of two incidents.

One was an alleged stabbing and another an alleged rape, both near Laxton Square, and emergency vehicles faced problems with double parking and traffic blocking city centre streets.

The aim of the clampdown was not just to protect passengers, it was also to protect the safety of drivers who can also be victims of violence.

City centre neighbourhood police sergeant Nikki Hall, who was co-ordinating the uniformed officers in Friday night’s operation, said: “The main thrust of this operation is for safety reasons – we want to get the message across to revellers that you should only get in a hired cab if you have booked it, because if you flag it down you are not insured should anything happen to you.

“Our other worry is for young women, out in Peterborough, who may be vulnerable and drunk, and may get into something they think is a cab.”

Ian Robinson, Peterborough City Council’s taxi enforcement officer, said: “In terms of the alleged sexual assaults, because they have not booked the taxi, there is no record of their journey which makes things difficult.

“And as for the drivers, we have had ones who have been robbed and stabbed. A driver who was coshed in late 2009 still suffers brain damage from that attack so it can be a dangerous job.

“If drivers clock off or take a job without a booking and something happens to them, there is no record of who they picked up or where, and if emergency services need despatching it takes longer for them to get to the victim. With regard to the alleged sexual assaults, there is no record of them taking a cab.”

Friday night’s crackdown is the third undercover operation – the first with an all-female team – which have so far caught ten taxi drivers flouting licence conditions. Running the operation PC Jenny Herd gave a briefing at 11pm in Bridge Street police station, stating officers could only ask drivers to take them to a pre-agreed point.

Only when the destination was reached, money had changed hands and a receipt given would the undercover “clubbers” reveal their true identities by showing the driver their warrant cards.

Officers also had to ensure no phone or radio calls were made by drivers, who could face being fined or even the loss of their taxi badge, to alert others to the operation.

Within just half-an-hour of the operation starting a taxi driver had picked up some undercover officers and took the three girls to the Ramada Hotel in Thorpe Wood. Waiting at the destination were uniformed police and the council’s enforcement officer.

The driver had earlier dropped off a passenger opposite Tesco in Broadway but, unable to resist the chance of a quick fare, had turned round and driven up to the trio of undercover officers who then asked to be taken to the Ramada hotel at 11.40pm

At the hotel, the taxi-driver seeing the police, reacted saying the sting could “cost him his livelihood”. The taxi he was driving had a sticker saying “private hire vehicle insurance invalid unless pre-booked with operator” on the side of the vehicle. Sgt Hall and Mr Robinson carried out a vehicle check and invited the driver to a police interview.

PC Herd and her colleague, who were pretending to be on a work trip from Kent, were later picked up at 12.15am by a driver, but this time the driver helpfully, but illegally, asked the pair to phone in their booking to his office during the journey to the Marriot hotel, explaining they were not insured without the booking.

PC said: “He was really nice about it and said we were not insured if we hadn’t booked it, but it was still illegal.”

PC Herd added that many drivers refused to pick them up from the roadside, she said: “Before the driver who picked us up stopped, three had refused us and we tried to flag one down who blatantly blanked us.”

Sgt Hall added: “We will be monitoring how many of the drivers actually refuse to be flagged down and won’t take people without a booking, as it shows there are plenty of drivers who are playing by the rules.”

When officers returned to the streets another private hire car pulled over right in front of the undercover team who were standing near the passport office in Laxton Square at 1.40am eating chips.

They asked the driver to take them to shops in Orton Brimbles and, finally, a fourth driver picked up two undercover officers in Midgate in the city centre at 2.50am.

This time the driver had second thoughts and began fumbling with his radio before questioning the officers’ cover story.

He then started to drive them back and when asked for a receipt only pretended to write one until the duo revealed their warrant cards.

PC Herd said she believed the operation had achieved a positive result: “It has been a successful evening with four drivers caught out. However what was also pleasing was how many of the private hire drivers turned us down and refused to take us.

“Some of the message we have been trying to get out there must have hit home but they now know we are out there patrolling and enforcing this together with our partners the city council.”

Now the drivers who picked up officers will attend a police interview which may result in a magistrates court hearing and could see them lose their badges. Ian Robinson, taxi enforcement officer, said: “The operation went really well. We take each case on its own merits, looking at a driver’s history, so they won’t necessarily lose their licence – but that is a strong possibility.”

FACTFILE: taxi regulations

THE rules regulating taxi-touting are very strict for both private hire companies and Hackney Carriage drivers, better known as black cabs.

The enforcement is being led by the neighbourhood policing team who made it a city centre policing priority for the next three months after complaints from the Peterborough Hackney Drivers’ Federation, who claimed 1,000 uninsured journeys were made every weekend.

High visibility work has also been undertaken in a series of overt as well as covert operations in the last few weeks. The rules for private hire drivers mean they cannot pick up fares which have not been booked with the firm - they should not stand, wait or pull onto hackney carriage ranks, fail to wear their badge or have their two-way radio loose in the foot-well of their vehicle.

Hackney carriage drivers cannot drive their cabs with their meters unsealed or allow their vehicles to be driven by unlicensed drivers.

It is illegal for private hire cabs to accept un-booked fares as it invalidates their insurance. Offences carry fines of between £400 and £5,000 and drivers’ taxi licences can be revoked by the city council

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IDFIMH

Good.

Some action at last.

Shame the horse has bolted . . .

I like that it's pure class by Peterbourough City Council.

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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

Believe me, don't get Mercury X2

What the devil are they for



Did they catch any illegal taxis or did they just get illegal ph. No wonder the public are confused



They believe they had flagged down a phv. Did they? Are they sure? Seems to me they are using this as an excuse to do their job



Aren't they? I always thought it was the driver and the vehicle that wasn't insured, I believe the passenger is always insured, but, I could be wrong



Is that rash parking by taxis, ph or both?



How does that help drivers?



Again the question as to whether they are insured or not?



Are they taxis or ph here cos it's not exactly clear when they use the term 'cab'



Therefore all taxi trips that are flagged down legally are a real royal pain in the ass



It's a shame he didn't think of his livelihood prior to pirating isn't it. Again calling a ph driver a taxi driver is confusing to the public



It's nice to note that the majority of ph drivers pick up legally



Not better known as taxis then

Hats off to the enforcement team but I'm curious how many taxis they moved on that were ranked/parked up with their lights on but not on a rank

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Women coppers and handcuffs now then that's what I call getting arrested.

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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

Believe me, don't get Mercury X2

Yeah right one or two patrols will stop the Peterborough PH boys


They do their touting in 6 diiferant districts and are often "helped" by their hackney driving relatives in those districts no chance you'd need a 100 police across 5 counties

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector