(The following story by Jeff Sturgeon appeared on the Roanoke Times website on March 11.)
ROANOKE, Va. — Officer Pete Ramey, railroad lawman, stops three young men in a downtown Roanoke rail yard.
“Stay off railroad property, all right?” he says.
The men get a written warning and leave. Ramey, a special agent with the Norfolk Southern Corp. police department, restarts his cruiser and resumes patrol.
His next encounter could be a graffiti artist, a copper thief or youngsters tossing stones. He might get word of an open boxcar door or a train carrying military freight or hazardous chemicals entering his jurisdiction.
Railroad police don’t see the bloodshed, car chases and human misery that regular cops do, but are plenty busy — patrolling the rail industry’s extensive network of tracks and yards. Ramey arrested or ejected more than 200 trespassers last year.
“People are so fascinated with trains,” Ramey said. “Something that big and open.”
In such a vast system, the stakes are high. Consumer goods, industrial supplies, military hardware and such necessities as chlorine for water purification move by rail.
Fred Alley, acting director of the company’s Roanoke-based police force of 240 officers, said the potential for terrorism against transportation targets could bring attacks on rail freight or rail infrastructure, endangering nearby communities.
For instance, if an attack disrupted chlorine deliveries to a major metropolitan area, it “could create a real crisis because of not having safe water,” Alley said.
Firing weapon is uncommon occurrence
On a recent morning, Ramey drives through several Roanoke rail yards, including the East End Shops and Shaffers Crossing, where everything appears problem free.
He pulls up alongside work crews and bothers to drive out to the desolate, farthest reaches of rail property. As he scans the scene, he asks himself silently such questions as: What’s out of place? Are workers wearing safety gear? Who doesn’t belong?
In a roughly four-hour period, in addition to warning the three trespassing men, he investigates an illegally parked car and inspects two contract employee taxis. The driver of one taxi is told to correct a broken backup light and get a first-aid kit.
Ramey gets one call, from someone seeking guidance on finding railroad law enforcement employment.
How common is it to activate your siren?
“It’s been a while,” he said.
Armed conflict?
Also rare. Although officers requalify to carry a weapon twice a year and have access to a new firing range in Northwest Roanoke, Ramey said he’s drawn his duty pistol twice in 23 years. He has not fired on anyone while on duty.
But make no mistake, NS considers law enforcement serious business. It employs about as many officers as the Roanoke Police Department, the largest law enforcement agency in Western Virginia, though the railroad officers are spread over 22 states.
Ramey, 53, is a former Virginia state trooper who shifted to railroad police work for what he said are its superior pay and benefits.
Most railroad police officers are former city, county or state police officers and most have four-year college degrees, said Ramey, who has a political science degree from Radford University. Railroad police officers are regular cops, complete with citation books and arrest powers.
He joined the force in 1985, when officers wore sport jackets and ties.
There was another anomaly.
“When I started, you had to have your own gun. You had to have at least a .38,” Ramey said.
Working in a regional headquarters city of Norfolk Southern, he had frequent contact with company executives.
In later years, railroad management provided guns and uniforms for police officers and, for visibility after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, shifted officers from unmarked to marked vehicles, Ramey said.
Train police have fought bandits across country
The wheels and firepower have come in handy as criminal enterprises have targeted rail shipments for theft.
In Chicago, the NS police force has battled street gangs that have broken into multiple cars of idling trains looking for easily sold merchandise, Alley said.
When they find a load of interest, gang members hand the merchandise out of the train to waiting accomplices who stash it in hiding for later pickup by van, Alley said.
In a crime he attributed to the now-convicted Conrail Boys, boxcar burglars out of New Jersey, Alley said the culprits rented tractors with which to steal waiting truck trailers at rail staging areas, at least once busting the gate on the way out.
“They hit us for several million dollars’ worth of merchandise,” he said.
Battling trespassing is a top priority for officials
In Southwest Virginia, the railroad has been tracking a group of metal thieves who clip and remove wire that is used for train signaling and communications. Their objective is to sell the copper for cash.
Not surprisingly, the railroad takes a dim view of trespassing, believing that if officers crack down on illegal entries onto railroad property, which is often unfenced, fewer crimes will happen.
“If you don’t have people trespassing,” Alley said, “you don’t have thefts, you don’t have vandalism, you don’t have tampered switches, debris placed on rails, because they’re not out there.”
Nor does the railroad have to contend with trespassers placing themselves in harm’s way — either inadvertently or deliberately in the case of suicide attempts.
The Association of American Railroads says trespassing is the most-common denominator in deaths on railroad property.
In practice, the zero-tolerance policy on trespassing means that Ramey draws a hard line against any and all outsiders.
Some of the common infringements encountered include painting trains, riding trains and entering trains — even locomotives.
One mischief-maker climbed into the driver’s seat of a locomotive, smiled and gave a thumbs up while having his picture taken and then sent the picture to one of Ramey’s colleagues.
“Catch Me If You Can,” wrote the person, who called himself Missouri Matt.
Other people have chosen to ride all-terrain vehicles on railroad property and, truth be told, “some of the best fishing is on railroad property. It’s America’s playground,” Ramey said.
And, perhaps, it is also the ultimate art exhibit.
Graffiti artists favor what Ramey calls the “moving billboard” that they believe a train offers for their work. He has viewed Web sites on which artists claim credit for their boxcar art.
“Some of them are very talented people,” Ramey said. Yet, “it’s vandalism.”
Even putting a penny on the tracks to smash it is a major no-no.
“It’s against the law,” according to Ramey.