Internal theft and fraud has long been recognised as being as serious a threat to industry as external crime and, to this end, for many years the AFC Group has been attempting to introduce new and innovative methods to support industry in confidentially gathering internal intelligence to combat these increasing threats to profit and assets.
Now, the company has gone into partnership with the revered charity Crimestoppers to devise a dedicated Integrity Line. Customers, staff and suppliers will have access to the Line, which will be ‘manned’ by independent, professional operators trained to accept anonymous calls and gather and disseminate information. That information will then be made available to members of the scheme.
Ian Froggett, the Integrity Line’s co-ordinator, commented: “With over 20 years’ experience of taking anonymous information from the public and supporting the police to arrest an average of 17 offenders every day, Crimestoppers is the ideal partner for the AFC Group on this particular initiative. Using a dedicated telephone number, those with knowledge of criminal activity are urged to ring Crimestoppers’ Integrity Line and pass their information on anonymously 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
In practice, experienced and dedicated Call Agents will interview callers to gain the best information and pass it immediately to an AFC Group co-ordinator for swift action.
“Driving down internal crime by identifying the perpetrators is crucial for a healthy business,” added John Roddy, the AFC Group’s managing director. “Research indicates that 86% of employees wish to report internal wrongdoings, while 56% would use an external line to do so. If one call to Crimestoppers can detect a murder and save many thousands of pounds, consider how a single call to the new Integrity Line would positively affect business.”
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