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Author Topic: Amtrak police  (Read 9807 times)

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Lance Charnes

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Amtrak police
« on: January 03, 2011, 01:15:57 AM »

I remember that one of the regular posters on MWF is/was a railroad cop, so here we go...

1.  Are Amtrak Police uniforms black or dark blue? I have several pictures, and it could go either way.

2.  Is there such a thing as an "Amtrak Police uniform"? I've counted at least five different variations in the pictures I've seen: medium-blue long-sleeved shirt over dark trousers; dark-blue/black long-sleeved shirt over dark trousers; utilities and black tactical gear; dark-blue/black parka over dark turtleneck; and tactical gear worn over khakis (!). For headgear, I've seen the traditional peaked cap, the eight-point Marine-style soft cap in dark blue/black, a baseball cap with "Police" in white, a baseball cap with the Amtrak Police patch, and a black stocking cap. Either this means anything goes, or that they change their duds every year or so.

3. How common is it for Amtrak Police in the major Eastern stations to carry long guns? Does that only go with the utilities and tac gear? If so, what's the usual mix between the street-cop types and the tactical types in a station?

I'm (re)writing an action sequence set in Philadelphia's 30th Street Station and foolishly thought outfitting the police extras would be easy. Not so. Help!
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JIM DOHERTY

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Re: Amtrak police
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2011, 06:46:38 AM »

Lance,

Re your question below:

I remember that one of the regular posters on MWF is/was a railroad cop, so here we go...

That's me.  In fact, I got word a short while ago that I got the third highest score on the AMTRAK Police sergeants' exam (excuse the repeat of this Shameless Self-Promotion.

1.  Are Amtrak Police uniforms black or dark blue? I have several pictures, and it could go either way.

Regular police uniforms are dark blue.  Uniforms for different specialties (K-9, tactical, bike, etc.) are different.  But for ordinary, garden variety patrol officers, it's a blue uniform, essentially similar to what cops wear in many municipal police forces, particularly in the East.

2.  Is there such a thing as an 'Amtrak Police uniform?' I've counted at least five different variations in the pictures I've seen: medium-blue long-sleeved shirt over dark trousers; dark-blue/black long-sleeved shirt over dark trousers; utilities and black tactical gear; dark-blue/black parka over dark turtleneck; and tactical gear worn over khakis (!). For headgear, I've seen the traditional peaked cap, the eight-point Marine-style soft cap in dark blue/black, a baseball cap with 'Police' in white, a baseball cap with the Amtrak Police patch, and a black stocking cap. Either this means anything goes, or that they change their duds every year or so.

There is a standard AMTRAK unifroms.  The differences you see might derive partly from the different specialties (see above), and partly from the fact that the uniforms are bought by dealers from different parts of the country, resulting in subtle differences.

Right now, the standard head-gear is an 8-sided soft cop.  This is because the chief is an Easterner and likes that style.  Prior to his appointment, the headgear was a "saucer-style" military visored cap.

K-9 and tactical officers wear ball caps.  Sometimes, tact cops wear watch caps (or stocking caps if your prefer).  Bike officers wear helmets when actually bicycling and ball caps when on foot.

3. How common is it for Amtrak Police in the major Eastern stations to carry long guns? Does that only go with the utilities and tac gear? If so, what's the usual mix between the street-cop types and the tactical types in a station?

I work in Chicago, so I'm not absolutely sure what the ratio is, but normally, at the moment, it's only the tactically uniformed cops who carry long guns.  There are more regular "street" cops than tact cops, but the exact ratio is hard to say.

Here in Chicago, we don't have the tactical units.

I'm (re)writing an action sequence set in Philadelphia's 30th Street Station and foolishly thought outfitting the police extras would be easy. Not so. Help!

I was in Philly taking the sergeants' exam, and a few weeks before that taking an anti-terrorist course.  30th Street Station is beautiful!  And the Food Court has the one here at Union Station beat all to hell.

Lance Charnes

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Re: Amtrak police
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2011, 09:00:53 PM »

Thanks so much for the info! I was making myself a little nuts with this.
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JIM DOHERTY

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Re: Amtrak police
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2011, 07:09:03 PM »

My promotion came through yesterday.  I'm now Sergeant Jim Doherty, AMTRAK Police.

Interesting coincidence.  My new badge number is "151."

Years ago, the very first badge number I ever had in my first-ever law enforcement job, as a uniformed-but-civilian "Student Aide" for the UC Berkeley campus police, was "152."

Coincidence or omen?

And, if omen, good or bad?

Old Bill

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Re: Amtrak police
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2011, 08:04:44 PM »

CONGRATULATIONS, Sarge!! ;D  Never doubted it for a second.  How many officers will you be abusing oh, er, I mean supervising?

Old Bill

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linda

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Re: Amtrak police
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2011, 03:29:45 PM »

Congratulations Sergeant on your promotion!  Well deserved and it's about time that they recognized your qualities.

"151?"  "152?"  I'm thinking it's not an omen until they issue you badge number "666."

Good going Jim!

Linda
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Lance Charnes

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Re: Amtrak police
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2011, 03:00:46 PM »

Congratulations, Jim!

What's the standard sidearm for the Amtrak Police? If there's variation, I'm mostly interested in the "street cop" version rather than the tac guys. Thanks.
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JIM DOHERTY

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Re: Amtrak police
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2011, 12:29:11 AM »

Lance,

Thanks for the good wishes.  Re your question below:

What's the standard sidearm for the Amtrak Police? If there's variation, I'm mostly interested in the "street cop" version rather than the tac guys. Thanks.

The issued sidearm is a Glock 22 in .40 calibre (a weapon, BTW, that I don't particularly care for). 

No other sidearm is authorized for duty wear (at least for standard patrol duty), although many officers carry something different when they're off-duty.

Lance Charnes

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Re: Amtrak police
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2011, 11:12:24 AM »

Thanks again.
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