The BNSF Police Department or the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Police Department (BNSFPD) is a private

railroad police Railroad police or railway police are people responsible for the protection of railroad (or railway) properties, facilities, revenue, equipment (train cars and locomotives), and personnel, as well as carried passengers and cargo. Railroad police ...

department and the law enforcement agency of the BNSF Railway, headquartered in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

. The BNSFPD is one of six American

Class I railroad In the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, st ...

law enforcement agencies, alongside those of

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

, Kansas City Southern,

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

, and

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

Jurisdiction

BNSF maintains a functioning police department staffed with officers given the title of Special Agent with jurisdiction over crimes against the railroad. Like most railroad police, its primary jurisdiction is unconventional, consisting of 34,000 miles of track in 28 western U.S. states. Railroad police are certified state law enforcement officers, authorized under federal law, to operate as such in any state that allows railroad police authority under state law. BNSF Special Agents may have investigative and arrest powers both on and off railroad property if authorized by the state in which they are working. They carry interstate authority as provided by federal law, allowing railroad police to conduct law enforcement activities in other states the railroads operate in. Special Agents typically investigate major incidents such as

derailment In rail transport, a derailment occurs when a rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially ...

s, sabotage, grade crossing accidents and hazardous material accidents and minor issues such as trespassing on the railroad

right of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

, vandalism/graffiti, and theft of company property or customer product. Special Agents often coordinate and liaise with local, state, and federal law enforcement on issues concerning the railroad and are dispatched nationally through BNSF Headquarters in Fort Worth.

References

External links

BNSF Police Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bnsf Police Department BNSF Railway Railroad police departments of the United States Private police in the United States