
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 17, 1993                   TAG: 9309170050
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RAILWAY POLICE HAVE BIG EYES, EARS AT NEW CENTER

Norfolk Southern Corp. said Thursday it has opened a centralized communications center in Roanoke for its railway police force and established a nationwide 800-number phone line to encourage the public to report incidents that affect safety.

The center, a large room filled with computers and telephones, is in the company's building on Kimball Avenue near Roanoke's main post office.

"The primary reason for the center is to enable most of our officers to spend less time handling paperwork and answering the phone and a lot more time outside their offices resolving problems and protecting our property," said Charles J. Brenner, assistant vice president for safety and protective services.

Seven of the company's 270 railway police officers are stationed at the center.

Thursday, they were electronically monitoring the perimeter of NS's rail yard in Buffalo, N.Y., the first facility to be fitted with closed-circuit television cameras as part of the new security system.

The Roanoke center has instant access to the National Crime Information Center and the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, Brenner said.

It also answers phones tied to Norfolk Southern's toll-free line, (800) 453-2530. The company hopes to get calls about cars stuck at rail crossings, malfunctioning signals, trespassers on tracks or rail washouts.

"No matter what the crime or emergency may be, we want to find out about it and resolve it as soon as we possibly can," Brenner said. - Staff report

by CNB