Taxi drivers in crime crackdown
Taxi drivers in Liverpool and Sefton are working with Merseyside police to tackle serious crime.
Cabbies are piloting an alert system which means appeals for help can be sent on text messages to the drivers' communication screen.
Merseycabs, Delta Taxis and Seaforth Radio Cabs will receive the descriptions and registration numbers of vehicles the police want to trace.
Delta says the scheme has been working informally for a while.
About 2,000 taxi drivers have signed up for the scheme.
It is being trialled in Liverpool and Sefton, but it is hoped it will be rolled out across the rest of the Merseyside region in the near future.
Out and about
Supt Ian Pilling, who helped set up the scheme, said: "Taxi drivers are valuable members of our community, they are our eyes and ears across Merseyside."
The police said cabbies had been helping them with information in an informal way for some time by calling in when they spotted an incident taking place.
A taxi driver for six years, Mr McLoud is one of the hundreds of drivers taking part in Taxi Alert.
He said: "I think it is a great idea and I am pleased to be taking part. We already regularly work with police because we are out and about, we see things as they are unfolding.
"This is just an extension of what we do already."
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