Editing Transit police (section)

===Railroad police===
[[File:Patch of the Metro Transit Police Department.png|thumb|[[Metro Transit Police Department]] officers, who hold police powers in [[Washington, D.C.]] and two U.S. states, [[Maryland]] and [[Virginia]]]]
Where the term "transit police" is used for a law enforcement agency or unit working for a railroad/railway, it usually refers to a railroad providing urban [[mass transit]] (such as a city-elevated system or [[rapid transit|subway]]) as opposed to long-distance rail carriage.

Law enforcement agencies of both cargo railroads and long-haul rail carriers are usually referred to as "[[railroad police]]" or "railway police". There is often considerable overlap in transit police and railroad police agencies’ duties. Railroad police agencies, however, have a long history, and were established separate from and prior to most modern transit police agencies. Transit police and railroad police powers may also be legally defined separately; For example, in the United States, many states have separate laws concerning both types of agencies.

However, in modern times, with increasing overlap in duties and the proliferation of extensive mass transit systems, some jurisdictions have opted for a hybrid model of railroad and transit policing. For instance, in the [[United Kingdom]], most of the rail systems, including the [[London Underground]], are policed by the [[British Transport Police]] (BTP). The BTP is a full-service, national law enforcement agency, which essentially combined the duties of dozens of now-defunct transit and railway police agencies into a single entity (the BTP has no authority in [[Northern Ireland]], except in emergencies).