It's late on a Friday afternoon and the train station is unsurprisingly busy as people head home after another week of work.
Sgt Andy Richardson, an officer with the British Transport Police (BTP), is standing on the platform at Lime Street and he tells The ECHO: "Every day is different." The British Transport Police (BTP) is one of the oldest police forces in the country as they help keep millions of people across England, Scotland and Wales safe on the railways and they have a level of work and powers that may surprise you.
We talk about the misconceptions some may have about the BTP; "only dealing with petty crimes" to "having no powers" as Sgt Richardson also tells us about the sheer volume of incidents the forces have to deal with up and down the country on a daily basis.
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From unattended bags, trespassing on the railway, public order offences, assaults, thefts, sexual assaults and criminal damage, Sgt Richardson and his fellow officers battle to keep our transport safe while also carrying some of the heaviest burdens of the job. In just one hour, two calls had come through for two fatalities, one in Manchester and one in Preston.
Sgt Richardson said: "The worst part of the job for me is delivering sympathy messages telling next of kin, it's horrendous. If I could have a fast forward button and skip that moment I would. I love the job but that's the worst, their lives are ruined."
With the need to go anywhere at any given time, dealing with the same variety of criminal offences as other police forces, Sgt Richardson told us how the forces work in partnership. He said: "We are just another police force, but people don't realise that.
"We can deal with missing persons all the way up to county lines and often we have more powers because of the rail bylaws. If someone is intoxicated and you think they will cause problems further down the line you can use the bylaws for early intervention and move them along."
He also spoke about how seriously the force responds to reports of sexual assaults and the courage of the victims who come forward. He added: "With have CID, serious organised crime, neighbourhood teams, plain clothed officers who look for things that don't fit into the norm, who can be anywhere at any time.
"We have county lines officers, officers who are trained in spotting those with criminal intent. We want people to always be on their toes and make railways a hostile environment for criminals."
'Always switched on'
Sgt Richardson's eyes were everywhere as he walked around Lime Street looking for suspicious or criminal behaviour. In less than an hour, one arrest was already made by his team following reports a man had been racially abusing passengers. He told the ECHO police presence is often a good enough deterrent, but plain clothed officers could also be watching for suspicious behaviour.
He added: "It's about noticing what's going on around you. If people are umming and ahhing about going into a shop, why? If people are paying you a lot of attention, why? We are constantly watching.
"You can tell before people have done something what they are going to do and you've always got to make sure you're two steps ahead. Officers never switch off."
A further arrest was made an hour later at Waterloo station, said to be an anti-social behaviour hotspot, after a male tried to run away from police officers at the station. He was found to have around £50 worth of stolen meat in a plastic bag.
Common misconceptions
Sgt Richardson, 31, who has been working for BTP for ten years, said many people incorrectly think they only have powers on the railway, but arrests can be made elsewhere before it is passed onto the home office force. He said it wasn't about "feet on seats or no tickets".
He told the ECHO there is also a misconception of the railway dangers, from electrocution dangers to non-stop trains. Sgt Richardson said: "We had a job today (Friday) where a guy dropped a cigarette on the tracks and jumped down to get it. Tracks are dangerous places, something we have to be very aware about when responding to calls."
Vital Text service
The 61016 text service offers public and staff a means to contact BTP directly and discreetly, in order to report non-emergency crime. Sgt Richardson said many crimes can be targeted this way as he adds: "We need people to use it.
"We had a male kicking a female, other passengers texted us discreetly. We knew this couple got off at Sandhills and what they were wearing so when officers for there they asked what had happened.
We managed to get them to the police station and this male was known for domestic violence. Had that not been reported, someone could have fallen victim to a domestic assault. It does work. The text service is great."
Spinning plates
Sgt Richardson tells us his job is about "spinning a lot of plates" as the officers are constantly aware, responding to crimes, preventing crimes and watching how people behave, he added: "It sounds silly but it's constantly being switched on."
He said: "You only need suspicion, we have a sus-ometer. You can build a case just by chatting to someone.
"For example, seeing someone leave a station and returning in a few minutes, why? Are they dealing drugs? We see this a lot with County Lines. People travelling with no ticket, this can lead to getting them for a number of other offences such as drugs.
It's never promised where we will be
Despite a "lull" during the pandemic, the rail lines are now busier than before, particularly during a weekend.
Sgt Richardson said: "It's never promised where we will be and when.
"For me, the best thing about this job is the results, the victim care. For example, someone called us to say they left their phone at the station, came back and it had gone. We watched the CCTV and saw two males sit on it and put it in their pocket. It was tracked and found in Runcorn.
"We then made local enquiries and simple checks of asking people we eventually found the suspects, arrested them, found the phone in tinfoil to stop the signal and not only did we get an arrest but this person got a sentimental phone back. We see all types of crime and we can deal with anything."
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