Last month, a security guard was stabbed in the arm with a syringe by a man he caught stealing meat from a supermarket in Swindon. He now faces an agonising six-month wait to discover if he has been infected by the needle. Just days before, two male guards were left shaken after being threatened with an axe by a gang who eventually made off with a small amount of money from a Lancaster shop.
Although appalling these latest incidents are eclipsed by the events of 2007, a year which saw over a thousand attacks on cash in transit workers and a string of violent offences against front of house security staff.
Broken bones
In one such incident, Frank Harker, a security guard at Tesco in Redcar, was left with broken bones in his face after he tried to apprehend a drunken shoplifter. Harker, who is still having dental treatment as a result of the attack, told his local paper that the judge’s decision to let the attacker walk free from court sets a bad example to others.
“This sentence is saying it’s alright, as long as you only do it once it doesn’t matter,” he said.
“Just beat up a security guard and you will get away with it in court.”
It is sensible to suggest that preventing such attacks in the first place is better than any sentence a judge can hand down, but it seems security staff are fast becoming the new target of choice for petty criminals and organised gangs.
Softer targets
Research by the British Bankers’ Association, for example, shows that bank robbery no longer pays. According to their latest study, 2007 saw the lowest-ever number of heists since records began. Researchers say increased security, the prevalence of CCTV and improved bank layouts could all have helped to push criminals away from banks and, inevitably, towards softer targets.
Most at risk are our cash in transit workers, so what are security companies, unions and the police doing to stop criminals from attacking them?
G4S, one of the world’s leading cash services providers, has been using Smart Water (a special dye that marks offenders with a unique, DNA-style code) in its cash boxes since October last year. Once the ultraviolet dye, which is invisible to the naked eye, marks an offender it will remain detectable on their skin, clothes and hair for weeks after the attack. Police then only have to match the Smart Water’s code with the scene of the crime to confirm the suspect’s involvement.
In 2006 the Met’s Flying Squad launched Operation Vanguard, which uses a combination of covert surveillance, ANPR data and high-visibility policing to deter criminals from attacking cash workers. And, last year, the retail, banking and security industries – and the GMB union – formed an alliance that reportedly cut cash in transit attacks by 28 per cent in the second half of 2007. Between July and December there were 422 attacks, compared to 617 in the first half of the year.
GMB national organiser Gary Smith said the union wants to see cash in transit crime pushed up the political agenda.
“GMB wants the government to understand and address the impact of such crime,” he said.
“It is treated as a business crime, but in fact it is a human crime, committed on the couriers who risk their lives on a daily basis to make sure we have cash in our pockets. This isn’t helped by planning laws which ban the CIT vans from town centres, parking restrictions, and the lack of safe areas and procedures for transfer of cash in banks and retail outlets.”
Parking fines
According to the union, which represents thousands of guards around the UK, 10,000 parking fines were handed out to London’s cash in transit workers in 2006 alone. Drivers often struggle to find places to stop near to their drop off or collection points and walking long distances can greatly increase the likelihood of an attack against them.
Ian Nisbet, CEO of G4S Cash Services, UK & Ireland said, “We believe that the safety of staff is being compromised by local authority parking restrictions. Our security personnel are at their most vulnerable when transferring cash in the open between the van and the delivery site.
“It therefore makes sense to keep this distance as short as possible. We would like to see suitable parking exemptions in place for our vehicles in areas where there are security issues in order to minimise the exposure to this risk.”
However, pressure applied by the union appears to finally be having an effect, and in a landmark victory at the start of February Southend-on-Sea Borough Council agreed to let cash delivery vehicles park as close as possible to their delivery and collection point without running the risk of receiving a parking fine.
“CVIT crews need to park as close to their delivery location as is safely possible and help to reduce the number of CVIT attacks, protecting both our members and the general public”, said Paul Campbell, GMB organiser for security workers.
“Exemption from parking restrictions provides a much safer environment. The current system is putting GMB members’ lives at risk,” he warned.
Under current rules, each local authority in the country can decide whether to exempt ‘bullion vehicles’ from parking restrictions. Some local authorities do provide exemptions, but the industry has to liaise with each authority separately to persuade them on the issue – which in Central London means Transport for London and 33 separate boroughs.
The union believes the time has come for statutory guidance on the issue, which could help to protect security workers up and down the country.
We want to hear what your company is doing to protect its employees. Maybe you have implemented new technology to keep them safe. Perhaps you feel you are doing all that can be done and that now is the time for top-level action. Whatever your thoughts, post them below.
