Is this the future? Are private street guards destined to become an indispensable and ubiquitous adjunct for the affluent? In some parts of northwest London such as St John’s Wood, Regent’s Park and Maida Vale they already are. Avenue Road, Acacia Road and Abbey Road (of Beatle fame) all have them, as do umpteen other nearby streets.
The idea is catching on “big time”, says Paul Barnes, operations manager for Crown Protection Services. It claims to have started the first private street patrol in Kensington in 2002 and now guards 20 London streets. “It wasn’t heard of a few years ago, now it’s becoming commonplace,” says Barnes.
– The Times
The UK will spend more than GB pound 6.7bn on anti-terrorism measures over the next decade, according to a new report from market researcher Frost & Sullivan.
The study reveals that spending on ”homeland security” will peak between 2008 and 2012 as the massive security preparations for the London Olympics are finalised.
Annual expenditure is forecast to rise from just over GB pound 500m this year to a high point of nearly GB pound 900m in 2009.
– The Telegraph
A man was being questioned by police yesterday over an armed robbery in Essex in which a rail commuter was shot in the chest. Police arrested the man on Sunday night in connection with the shooting of 24-year-old Adam Mapleson, who tackled robbers as they held up a security guard and her colleague who were loading a cash machine at Rayleigh station on Friday morning.
– The Guardian
Israel’s Labour party held leadership elections yesterday that appeared headed for a run-off vote between the former prime minister Ehud Barak and political newcomer Ami Ayalon, a former admiral and security services chief. Early exit polls suggested that neither man had passed the 40% threshold needed to win an outright victory in yesterday’s vote.
– The Guardian