The threat from terrorism to the UK remains both real and serious. An attack could take place at any time without warning and any organisation could be directly or indirectly affected. Acts of terrorism vary in terms of scale and purpose. Some seek merely to inflict superficial damage or cause public distress to draw attention to a particular cause. But others carry a more malicious intent.

Terrorism is not just about violent attacks on people and property. Disrupted communications systems, damaged assets and tarnished reputations can cause immediate and/or long-term harm to a business and so equally desirable from the terrorist point of view.

So says the latest, third edition of Protecting Against Terrorism, guidance from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI)

To read the 52-page document visit the CPNI website

The CPNI also offers among other documents a checklist for security staff to deal with a telephoned bomb threat, and to record necessary details.

CPNI launched a YouTube channel, which will be used for sharing protective security films and video clips.

Briefly, the CPNI defines the national infrastructure comprises the facilities, systems, sites and networks necessary for the delivery of the essential services upon which daily life in the UK depends.

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Two men caught stripping thousands of pounds worth of cable under a railway arch in East London have been jailed. Gintaras Viktus (40), of no fixed abode, and Alvynas Lazauskas (53), of Meath Road, Stratford, were found guilty and sentenced on Thursday, April 19 at Blackfriars Crown Court.

During their trial, the court heard how BTP officers discovered the pair under railway arches next to Carr Street and Repton Street in Limehouse on Wednesday, 7 December, stripping reams of copper cable. There was also three drums of railway cable waiting to be stripped of its valuable copper core, later identified as stolen Network Rail railway cable.

They were arrested and charged later that night with handling stolen goods. Officers seized the stolen cable, which was estimated to be worth around £12,000.

After a committal hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, both men pleaded not guilty to handling stolen goods and a trial began on Monday, April 16 at Blackfriars’ Crown Court. A jury found the duo guilty of handling the stolen cable and they were jailed by His Honour Judge Hillen. Viktus was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, less 73 days already spent in custody for a separate offence committed whilst on remand. Lazauskas received 12 months’ imprisonment, less 133 days already spent inside.

Detective Inspector Nick Brook, part of the BTP investigating team, said: “I hope the sentences handed down to this pair send a stark warning to others seeking to profit from Railway Cable Theft.

“Viktus and Lazauskas were caught red-handed with reams of cable, giving no excuse other than they were stripping it for cash. Their not guilty plea did not weigh up and they were convicted by a majority verdict from the jury.

“Stealing railway cable is incredibly dangerous, and anyone seeking to do so risks serious injury – or even death – through electrocution, all for a significantly small profit. Additionally, it affects every single train passenger because services can be ground to a halt when cable is taken.

“We’re clamping down on metal thieves, and with our increased use of technology and specialist operations in key hotspots, we’re arresting and prosecuting more metal thieves than ever before.

“We’ll also continue to have a high-visibility presence, including officers patrolling on foot, in vehicles and with police dogs, to catch and deter criminals.”

Dave Ward, Anglia route managing director for Network Rail, said: “Cable theft is costing the rail industry almost £20 million a year, which is money we would otherwise spend on improving and maintaining our railway.

“It’s a huge issue and one which all affected industries are committed to tackling – but we can’t do it alone. We’re working across the rail industry and with others, including BT and other utilities companies, to try and get changes to the laws governing scrap metal dealers. The police must also be given the powers they need to shut down the rogue scrap dealers who are profiting from the travelling public’s misery.”

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The first Professional Security Women in Security awards were presented at the ASIS Europe conference in London last month. They went to Marva Jackson, of Birmingham-based guarding company Leon Security Services; Kathy Ridgard of Sodexo; and Sue Seaby of Aon.

Award organiser and Professional Security columnist Una Riley said that next year’s awards would be presented during IFSEC; and the year after at the Lord Imbert dinner courtesy of the Association of Security Consultants. Judges were drawn from security industry bodies. A full report will follow in our June issue. The awards presenter and one of the judges, SIA chairman Baroness Henig, likened the awards to the film Oscars – a comparison picked up by the event’s next speaker, the Home Office crime minister James Brokenshire.
The judges were:
Mike Alexander (ASIS), Justin Bentley (IPSA), Baroness Ruth Henig (SIA), Jeff Little OBE (NSI), Julie Kenny (BSIA), Stefan Hay (FSA), Di Thomas (The Security Institute), Nigel Churton (Master of the Company of Security Professionals), Allan Hildage (Association of Security Consultants) and Lynne Watts-Plumpkin (SSAIB).

Source:www.professionalsecurity.co.uk

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A Norwich man has denied spray-painting graffiti on a wall of Chapelfield Shopping Centre and will return to court for a trial later this year.

Kieran Howard, 23, of Regina Road, denied causing criminal damage worth around £100 on Wednesday, April 4.

Security at Chapelfield believed they saw someone spraying the graffiti on the wall via CCTV and Howard was later stopped in the area by police.

Howard pleaded not guilty and district judge Peter Veits set a trial date of Tuesday, August 7, for Howard to return to Norwich Magistrates Court. He was also given unconditional bail.

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Frightened BBC staff are being offered personal security guards to escort them to their cars and tram stops when they leave the new northern HQ in Salford.

Many BBC staff have never made a secret of their disdain for their new northern base.

But one presenter has taken the sniping to a new level…by making an on-air joke accusing the Corporation’s neighbours in Salford of being light-fingered.

The gaffe came when BBC Five Live breakfast show host Rachel Burden was interviewing Olympic cycling hopeful Laura Trott, who won two gold medals at the Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne, about her success.

But when Miss Trott, 19, joked about accidentally leaving the medals in her car, Miss Burden quipped: ‘What? Around here?’

The suggestion that the car was at risk of being broken into caused fury among radio listeners in Salford, who help to pay 35-year-old Miss Burden’s wages through the licence fee and say the city is being unfairly reviled as a crime hotspot by BBC staff.

Edward Reid, a legal worker, said of Tuesday’s interview: ‘It’s time presenters like Rachel kept their prejudices to themselves rather than airing them to listeners. She is employed to do a job, not pass snide remarks about an area which she knows little or next to nothing about. Grow up.’

Joanna Smith, 29, a clerical worker, said: ‘It’s just ignorance really. Salford does have a reputation as a hard city but so has London – they need to get a grip.’

Salford MP Hazel Blears said of Salford Quays, where the BBC is based: ‘I go down there on a regular basis and there’s always a lot of activity. It seems like a safe place to be. In any urban environment you get the odd incident.’

This week it emerged that BBC managers have offered staff in Salford personal security guards to escort them to their cars and tram stops from their studios.

However, crime rates for Shepherd’s Bush, home to the BBC’s White City London headquarters, are higher than in Salford, and its figures for violent crime and robbery are way above the national average. Furthermore, recent figures show that although Salford remains slightly above the national average for violence and robbery, crime there has dropped.

The BBC’s move to Media City in Salford Quays – where about 1,600 staff are now based, has been riddled with gaffes and controversy, with many presenters refusing to move. BBC Breakfast presenters Sian Williams and Chris Hollins both refused to make the change and have since been replaced.

Incidents there over the past year include:

A BBC worker being shot with an air rifle as he cycled home;
A producer being chased and threatened by yobs;
Property being damaged by spray-paint vandals;
Countless thefts of items such as laptops, iPads and smart phones.

The offer of personal security applies particularly for those working late at night or early in the morning.

In a leaked email intended to reassure staff about on-site safety, Rhian Roberts, head of development for Radio 5 Live and Sports Extra, said the measures had been tightened after incidents affecting staff.

‘I’ve been looking at on-site security on 5 Live’s behalf following a couple of incidents – and also the reality that Media City is a different kettle of fish to W12.’

The BBC’s buildings at White City have private car parks manned by security and which require a pass to enter, while the Tube station is yards away.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

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Firm hired by Home Office to deport refused asylum seekers and foreign prisoners admits its guards lack respect for minorities and women

 

The private company hired by the government to deport foreign nationals has decided to place its own guards under surveillance after concluding that some lack respect for ethnic minorities and women and display “loutish” and “aggressive” behaviour.

The damning assessment of the attitudes and conduct of staff working for Reliance is made in an internal company memo, drawn up by senior managers after the company won the Home Office contract to deport foreign prisoners and refused asylum seekers.

The document, one of a number of internal company records leaked to the Guardian, identifies problems “at all levels of the business” and cites poor communication, peer pressure and use of “inappropriate language” by guards empowered to use force to return foreign nationals.

In response, executives at Reliance have decided to recruit a team of covert monitors who will pose as passengers on commercial flights and report back on the performance of guards. They hope the move will quell the growing impression that the deportation system remains in crisis – 18 months after an Angolan man, Jimmy Mubenga, died after being forcibly restrained on a flight from Heathrow.

The Guardian has obtained details of seven further cases of alleged mistreatment of detainees said to have occurred since last May, when Reliance took over the lucrative government removals contract from rival private security firm G4S.

The Home Office said the five allegations it had investigated were found to be “entirely without merit”; in at least one case a detainee is believed to have seriously injured guards during altercations.

Campaigners argue that the complaints process rarely finds in favour of deportees and say the latest complaints indicate a culture of using excessive force remains.

Three G4S guards arrested over Mubenga’s death in October 2010 remain on bail. The Crown Prosecution Service is expected to announce whether they will face manslaughter charges at the end of the month.

A parliamentary report last week suggested the removals process was in chaos, as a fifth of foreign prisoners who recently finished their jail terms had still not been deported by last November. The home affairs select committee was highly critical of the UK Border Agency, the Home Office department that works with Reliance, saying it was failing to fulfil its basic tasks and risked damaging public trust.

Reliance consulted independent groups and the Border Agency about the welfare of detainees. The consultation pointed to problems with management of staff and “laddish” behaviour and the memo says there is a variation in the way guards treat detainees. The memo states: “Is there actually a problem with our business? The consensus was: yes. Is this a company where women, ethnic minorities and those of diverse religions feel comfortable? Evidence would suggest: no.”

Under a list of reasons why the company may have inherited a damaging culture, the memo identifies complacency and low morale and cites issues to do with supervision, discipline and recruitment. It also concludes there is a lack of respect, shared values and “knowledge of how we should treat people”.

In a statement, Reliance said that while it was proud of the overall standards of most staff, it had have begun a programme to rectify some areas of behaviour and attitude. “This will be supported by a programme of on board, covert monitoring of staff behaviour, a process which is due to be introduced in June 2012.

“The company has also reviewed and amended its recruitment processes to encourage more applications from women and those from diverse cultural backgrounds, has restructured the senior management team and created a central unit which has responsibility for overseeing all operational standards.”

The company said “an initial period of adjustment” was to be expected when taking on a new contract, adding that the new contract was different from the one held by G4S “in its requirement to balance the welfare of detainees with a more stringent approach to costings and creating more value for money for the taxpayer”.

Since taking on the contract, Reliance has embarked on cost-cutting while seeking to change the “culture and behaviour” of guards – many of whom were automatically transferred across from G4S in May. Insiders say the contract has been beset with problems, with guards complaining about shortages of staff, issues with vehicles and poor safety standards.

Eleven guards are understood to have been suspended for refusing to fly on charter flights to Afghanistan, citing a lack of security provisions or risk assessments. On one recent flight to Kabul they say they were left for several hours on the tarmac at the airport, in freezing conditions and fearing for their safety. Reliance said five guards remained suspended for refusing to fly to Afghanistan but insisted its risk assessments had been “stringent”.

In a separate incident, a guard was temporarily suspended and given a warning after being overheard making what were perceived as inappropriate comments in an airport lounge in Nairobi, Kenya.

In one of the leaked documents, Reliance blames “austerity cuts” within UKBA for a series of changes in working practices that proved unpopular with staff, some of whom threatened a revolt.

The document warns that its multimillion pound contract with the Home Office is at risk: “Failure to change would make the contract’s future unviable,” it says.

Reliance consulted widely within the company and with independent groups and the UK Border Agency about the welfare of detainees. The outcome of the consultation pointed to problems with management of staff and “laddish” behaviour and says there is a variation in the way guards treat of detainees. The memo states: “Is there actually a problem with our business? The consensus was: ‘yes’.”

It adds: “Is this a company where women, ethnic minorities and and those of diverse religions feel comfortable? Evidence would suggest: ‘no’.”

Under a list reasons why the company may have inherited a damaging culture, the memo identifies “complacency” and low morale and cites issues such issues to do with supervision, discipline and recruitment. It also concludes there is a lack of respect, shared values and “knowledge of how we should treat people”.

Reliance recently enlisted the help of Citizens UK, a network of community organisers. Citizens UK decided to work closely with the company, advising on how to implement “cultural change” and improve removals, after it emerged that Mubenga’s young children attended a school in group’s network of north London primary schools.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/

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The following recommendations are an indication of the typical environmental security issues to be considered. Solutions will vary from site to site and will depend on the location and management style of the school.

Provide an Intruder alarm system linked to police response.

Provide facilities to keep rubbish disposal away from buildings, keeping ‘wheelie bins’ and skips secure so they cannot provide opportunities for access to roofs or arson attack.

Provide ‘designed for purpose’ secure areas where high value or vulnerable items of equipment are used. Provide appropriate secure storage facilities for high value portable equipment. Note the increased lap top computer use.

In high risk areas consider shutters or grills for windows, sprinkler systems, facilities for CCTV and manned guarding.

Provide a substantial secure boundary and limit access points for vehicles and pedestrians. Negotiate the removal of public rights of way across the site. Fences should be substantial and gates should be of a similar standard. A secure boundary is of primary importance to school security. It will reduce and allow the effective management of most crime and anti social behaviour problems that can be anticipated. Use landscaping to enhance security and resolve aesthetic issues.

Limit and control the main access route for visitors to the school. Ensuring that it is direct, easily accessible and clearly signed. Importantly, main access routes should not allow opportunities for informal unsupervised access to other parts of the school.

Keep the building shell simple in shape and plan form to aid surveillance and reduce hiding places. Avoid recesses or overhangs, which might provide opportunities for shelter, which could be abused.

Consider and introduce where possible natural surveillance from windows across open spaces playgrounds and car parks.

Roofs generally should be designed to inhibit casual access and avoid hiding places for intruders. Avoid flat roofs and weak security points such as roof lights and ventilators. Simple pitched roof shapes with robust eaves details are preferable.

Avoid providing easy climbing facilities to roofs, which may be provided by rainwater down pipes, overflow pipes and low gutters. Steps provided by wall features or adjacent railings and other features should also be avoided.

Assist surveillance around buildings and assist with staff personal safety with good quality energy efficient dusk to dawn lighting, which is vandal resistant. Avoid high lighting levels, which may produce threatening dark shadows.

Secure car parking and cycle storage should be overlooked, well lit with limited access points. Cycle storage facilities should be capable of being locked up and secured.

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A Business Continuity Institute survey from the BCI asked 458 organisations across 49 countries to rate their concern against a range of threats to their business, based on their own risk assessment.

The top five threats evaluated through risk assessment, based on those registering extremely concerned and concerned, are as follows:

* Unplanned IT and telecom outages – 74pc
* Data breach (i.e. loss or theft of confidential information) – 68pc
* Cyber attack (e.g. malware, denial of service) – 65pc
* Adverse weather (e.g. windstorm/tornado, flooding, snow, drought) – 59pc
* Interruption to utility supply (i.e. water, gas, electricity, waste disposal) – 56pc.

UK based respondents reflected the international response as did Australia, Canada, South Africa and the USA. However, indicative responses from India were very different, with transport network disruption, social unrest and fire taking the top three positions. In Japan, respondents put the threat of an earthquake and tsunami as their number one threat with an environmental incident and interruption to utility suppliers in second and third positions respectively.

In individual sectors, respondents in manufacturing picked supply chain disruption as their primary concern, followed by unplanned IT/telecom outage and a product safety incident. In the other industry sectors analysed, there was significant agreement in the threats that pose most concern in terms of data breaches, cyber attack and unplanned outages. In light of the high levels of concern going into 2012, the survey also asked about expectations on investment levels in mitigating these threats. The results show that for one in ten of respondents, investment levels will fall, while for half levels will be the same; only 25pc can report increased levels of investment.

Lyndon Bird FBCI, Technical Development Director at the BCI, said:“The prominence of cyber attacks and data breaches in this survey reflects the need to take a more comprehensive approach to dealing with the problem, one which is strategic in nature and not purely technical. Executives need to ask why people are trying to disrupt their business or steal confidential information. Also, private and public sector organisations need to work collectively and adopt more of an ‘open sharing’ approach, so that common cyber threats can be identified more quickly.

“A comprehensive approach to resilience is required, one that Business Continuity Management (BCM) offers. BCM links the firm’s objectives with the risks that it agrees to take and the measures needed to manage the resulting vulnerabilities; it’s a proven approach to developing resilience and protecting an organization’s reputation.

“Looking beyond the top list of threats, we can see that business continuity thinking is being more widely applied than in the past. We would rarely have seen threats such as business ethics incident, new laws or regulations, the availability of credit or exchange rate volatility registering too many responses. This confirms the growing recognition among management teams that BCM is a very effective all risks approach to business resilience.”

For a full list of threats evaluated and response levels, download the Business Continuity Institute Survey.

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In an age in which the threat from terrorism is both dynamic and continually evolving, the effective sharing of knowledge is critical in providing a response.

Counter Terror Expo brings the foremost experts

from government, armed forces, security services, law enforcement and academia from all over the world together annually, to share real-life experience, debate strategies, brainstorm issues, shape policy and define effective counter-measures.

This is the only event to deliver a heavily researched, extremely relevant and uniquely high level centrepiece conference, alongside extensive learning through our issue specific workshop programme and supported by a world-beating showcase exhibition exposing the very latest technology and technique available to professionals in this vitally important arena.

Counter Terror Expo is the globally renowned event at the very top of the must attend list for counter terrorism professionals.

http://www.counterterrorexpo.com/

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Shopping and Crime by Prof Joshua Bamfield, went on sale recently. The book draws on behavioural economics, criminology and marketing to help understand the cultural phenomenon of retail crime.

As the largest consumer leisure activity; shopping has seen exponential rises retail crime. In this interesting title form the series Crime Prevention and Security Management Professor Bamfield analyses important new datasets on employee theft and shoplifting to show the nature of the problem, its origins and possible solutions. Crime prevention is explored as a management issue, using criminomics, a new concept based on commercial realities rather than maximizing arrests. This emphasises communications and persuasion within organisations, supported by a web of collaborative projects between retailers, police and other crime agencies.

Prof Joshua Bamfield

About the author
Professor Joshua Bamfield has studied retail consumer and crime trends in Europe and North America for 30 years and has acted as consultant to major retail corporations. He taught management, strategy and industrial economics at Oxford Brookes, UK,before becoming Head of Business at Northampton University. He is Director of the Centre for Retail Research, Nottingham, Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and read PPE at Oxford and Industrial Economics at Nottingham.

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