The new Dublin Bus security team has powers to use “reasonable force” and make citizen's arrests when necessary, the bus service’s CEO has told Pat Kenny.

Two dedicated security teams are being rolled out this week in a bid to make bus journeys safer and more secure for passengers in Dublin.

The 20-week pilot programme will see one team operating on the north side of the city and another on the south.

On The Pat Kenny Show this morning Dublin Bus CEO Billy Hann said the security officers will be in full uniform to ensure they are “very, very visible” to all passengers.

Reasonable force

He said they will only engage in a security incident when it is “absolutely required”.

“Really, the primary responsibility is to de-escalate, so that's what they're going to do,” he said.

“They are going to engage with people, if absolutely needed, to help our staff or to help any customers de-escalate the situation.

“If that's not working and we feel that our property is going to be damaged or an individual is going to be assaulted - whether it be an employee or customer - they do have powers to actually use reasonable force to remove the person off the bus and then make a citizen's arrest, if absolutely necessary, and detain them until the arrival of An Garda Síochána.”

Security

He said the very presence of a visible security team can often be enough to calm down a situation.

“What we find is, when they’re in full uniform - and they do wear body cams as well - that actually de-escalates the situation quite quickly,” he said.

“It is a deterrent but if absolutely needed, they can use reasonable force to remove somebody off the bus if it's absolutely needed.

“Of course, that would be the absolute last resort from our perspective.”

Dublin bus travels through the city centre on a bright day in Ireland. Image: reallifephotos / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr Han said Dublin Bus knows which areas are most likely to experience issues or anti-social behaviour and the security teams will be focussed on those areas.

“So that's one of the roles,” he said. “They'll be jumping on and off buses in those particular areas where we have challenges and concerns around anti-social behaviour.

“Another role they’ll have is they'll be assisting our Revenue Protection Unit with regards to fare evasion and then, in particular with our nighttime services on Friday and Saturday evenings, there'll be assisting Dublin Bus staff with crowd control and the boarding of individuals onto our bus services late in the evening.”

Dublin bus

The Dublin Bus CEO said the security guards are all highly trained with the skills required for the job.

“It is a private security organization,” he said.

“They’ve all been highly trained; they're all certified in accordance with the Private Security Authorities Regulations.

“So, they are well trained and well skilled to deal with the job that we need them to do.”

He said the four-person teams will work 12-hour shifts seven days a week – and will be on shift until 4am on Friday and Saturday nights.