Sexual crime – and the sheer fear of it – can and often does have a profound and damaging effect on individuals and local communities. The police service recorded 57,542 sexual offences in England and Wales for the year ending March 2007 and, while this represented a 7% fall on 2005-2006 figures, the authorities are ever-conscious that more needs to be done in combating the insidious threat posed by paedophiles and other voracious sexual predators.
Commendably, the Government is playing its part in fighting back. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (which came into force in May 2004) clarified the law, giving ‘consent’ a legal definition, creating new offences – in relation to ‘date rape’ drugs, etc – and paving the way for 20 Sexual Assault Referral Centres to be opened across the country wherein victims can access medical care and counselling.
Without doubt, the protection of our children is the most pressing concern. There can be few acts of criminality more damaging, emotive or abhorrent than sexual crimes perpetrated on youngsters. Here, the Government has ensured that all offenders must now register with the police. They are visited in their homes, and if they break the rules they’re sent back to prison. Treatments have been developed that are shown to be effective in preventing re-offending, and there are now over 100 ‘Approved Premises’ where high-risk offenders are closely supervised.
Improving public protection
These measures have greatly enhanced public protection from sex offenders. So, too, has the excellent Derwent Initiative, a Newcastle-upon-Tyne-based independent charity founded in 1993 – following the Cleveland child sex abuse scandal – that works to improve public protection by promoting joined-up thinking and action in response to sexual offending.
Tasks carried out by The Derwent Initiative – an organisation presided over by chief executive Deborah Jenkins MBE – include research into those issues surrounding sexual offending in the community, creating practical solutions to local problems and providing ongoing support for companies and individuals involved with implementing its theories and Best Practice guidelines.
One such company is the Northampton-based, Approved Contractor Scheme-registered guarding solutions provider Vision Security Group (VSG). Chairman Bill Muskin, VSG’s managing director Keith Francis and the rest of the senior management team have always been forward-thinking (‘Listen without prejudice’, SMT, February 2005, pp16-19). It comes as no surprise to learn of them innovating yet again – remember the fabulous C2Q programme? – by being the first guarding contractor to take The Derwent Initiative and LeisureWatch on board and promote them among clients and staff. What’s the main driver behind this decision, though?
“Often, people don’t want to talk about sexual offences. It’s something of a taboo subject,” explains Muskin as we discuss the issue in his office. “To my mind, though, as security professionals we have a responsibility to act on this matter. After all, one of our key tasks as solutions providers is to protect and safeguard members of the public. The Derwent Initiative is firmly entrenched in the partnership approach to security and, indeed, the policies framing community safety and the Wider Police Family.”
TDI: the practical approach
There’s a pressing need to train front line operatives who work in shopping and sports centres, leisure parks and other ‘public arenas’ such that they can identify the behavioural patterns of sexual predators and, hopefully, prevent incidents from occurring. “There’s no ‘Train The Trainers’ course, though,” Muskin points out. “The Derwent Initiative people have to be the trainers for two main reasons. First, the training is highly specific and, obviously, deals with a very sensitive subject. Second, this isn’t just about training. The Derwent Initiative staff will visit a site, do the training and then forge links with the local police service. They are the facilitators.”
According to Muskin, what then develops is a totally cohesive project. “The security team identifies potential problem areas and creates a safe environment. Having bought into the idea, the police will work on any intelligence fed to them by our officers. It’s a genuine multi-agency approach to fighting criminality.”
Having researched The Derwent Initiative, Muskin engaged in conversation with an enlightened client in the Province – namely the Westfield Group. Given the customer’s support, Muskin then instigated a dedicated programme of training for his officers at the Group’s CastleCourt Shopping Centre on Belfast’s famous Royal Avenue. The scheme went ‘live’ on Wednesday 25 June.
CastleCourt boasts more than 90 stores including fashion favourites Debenhams, TK Maxx, Gap, Wallis and Warehouse. Like many other malls of its kind, CastleCourt houses a children’s soft play area (in this case designated PlayWorld). It’s in areas like this where the security staff can make a genuine difference by spotting abnormal behaviour before it escalates into a serious incident.
“Just after all our officers had been trained,” says Muskin, “we had a situation where a suspicious looking character was spotted hanging around one of the children’s stores by our team of CCTV operators. The man realised he was on camera, and hurriedly attempted to leave the site. The CastleCourt Security Team followed the agreed protocol with the police service. Subsequently the individual was detained and, following an investigation, pleaded guilty to various offences and was duly sent back to prison having previously been released on licence for sexual offences.”
For Muskin, this is the benefit of LeisureWatch in the real world. “That’s a classic example of how it works,” he suggests with genuine passion in his voice. “It’s not just a nice thing to talk about. The results are there. Our officers are now trained to spot behaviour patterns and body language which means they can see and recognise types of criminality that wouldn’t have been on their radar in the past.”
Community Safety Accreditation
Muskin insists that the ACPO-accredited LeisureWatch – the first ‘situational’ product to feature on the ‘Secured By Design’ web site – rightly sits alongside Community Safety Accreditation Schemes (CSAS) in forming “a great toolkit” for front line security personnel regularly dealing with members of the public.
CSAS were introduced in the wake of the Police Reform Act 2002, in turn enabling chief constables to accredit (and designate limited powers to) employees of organisations like security companies, local authorities and NHS Trusts who contribute towards community safety. VSG was the first security company to gain such an accreditation (from Essex Police). Muskin’s operation is now accredited for three shopping centre/retail park-style sites in that force’s jurisdictional area.
“We’ve found our ACS membership a real benefit here,” adds Muskin. “We not only had to put together a proposal for the CSAS membership, but also a tender-like document about the company, our directors, our operational frameworks and how we deliver the security service. Then we had to be vetted and interviewed. The ACS accreditation genuinely allowed us to be taken seriously by the Essex Police at a senior level.”
Unsolicited, Muskin then brings the current Security Management Today/Infologue.com Editorial Campaign to the fore. “This is where Make The Change comes in. A guarding contractor picks up a contract for a shopping centre. Its own management team then needs to sit down in front of the centre’s team and tell them all about The Derwent Initiative, the CSAS and LeisureWatch. They must sell the fact that security staff can be trained to higher levels. When one client buys-in, word spreads and other clients will want the same service, but they can’t have that if they’re intent on low pay and long hours for officers.”
LeisureWatch: making spaces safer
LeisureWatch was piloted between 2003 and 2006 with funding from the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, becoming a membership-only scheme last year. More than 5,000 individuals across 100-plus organisations have now been trained to help prevent sexual offending in defined public spaces. To its enormous credit, VSG was the first company to spot the fact security operatives ought to be involved.
The scheme encompasses site audits, staff education, on-site signage, police protocols (for the reporting of incidents) and a maintenance programme. Companies wishing to gain accreditation must ensure that 80% of their public-facing staff are suitably trained such that there is – in the words of The Derwent Initiative – “the highest practicable level of public protection” for children and vulnerable adults using leisure facilities.
Three-hour training sessions are run by The Derwent Initiative staff, usually with some police input (either from the national liaison officer or from a regional officer seconded to the Initiative for the purposes of the scheme). There is also a two-hour training session for site managers who, just like their officers, must be checked and verified by the CRB.
“Team members at CastleCourt are all fully-trained,” explains Muskin, “and carry cards to say so. Signs have also been erected letting members of the public know the development is a LeisureWatch-protected facility.”
Muskin signs off with a telling message. “Change doesn’t happen by magic. You have to make contacts and forge links. The police’s door is a hard one to knock down, but we’re doing it. Guarding companies must be seen to have the infrastructure and resources in place to deliver, then they’ll be taken seriously.”
For further information on The Derwent Initiative and LeisureWatch log on at: www.tdi.org.uk