ProfSec27-09ps

Comment
a rise in the stats:
About Jim Gannon: After
45 years in the police
and commercial security
industry, Jim retired from
the Unipart Group of
Companies in 2009 after
23 years’ service, having
been Head of all its Group
Security Operations and
latterly New Business
Director of Unipart Security
Solutions, which he formed
from his manned guarding
operations in January
2007. Now in retirement
he retains contact with the
security industry and has
been on the magazine’s
advisory board since 1995.
This article is also on our
website under ‘blogs’.
Top: Outside Charing
Cross police station,
central London - after
closures, quite a
collector’s item
Nice spot for a holiday -
but not so if you’ve been
scammed
Photos by Mark Rowe
14
Recent figures from the Home Office
showing the drastic decline in police
officer numbers and, the latest
crime statistics by the Office for
National Statistics (ONS) must act as
a wake-up call, writes our long-time
contributor Jim Gannon.
Politicians and those responsible
for administering the system
can no longer sit around
pontificating on what the future may
hold for fighting crime in the UK as
we are blasted from all sides by some
cold facts. Police officer numbers
have fallen to their lowest level in
30 years and while the Home Office
report outlined the decline, it pointed
out that it was not based on directly
comparable statistics. One of the
reasons for this of course is that they
keep on moving the goalposts so
that comparable analysis is almost
impossible to achieve.
Low strength
The Home Office confirmed that
police strength was at its lowest level
since like for like records began in
1996; but not directly comparable
records show that officer numbers
were now the lowest since 1985. The
chairman of the Police Federation
Steve White has been recently quoted
as saying ‘what more of a wake-up
call does the Government need’ and
there are a lot of the public who
would echo that sentiment. Given
that numbers continue to fall year
on year while the police have to face
more everyday crime and endure the
type of terrorist atrocities recently
in London and Manchester, is it any
wonder that the Federation shows real
concern.
Figures
The latest figures released by ONS
show the largest annual leap for a
decade. A massive 10pc increase
including a significant rise in theft,
violent crime and sexual attacks. The
so called annual reversal of reported
crime has apparently come to an end
as the boffins have run out of ideas
on how to present the figures rather
than relying on the statement that
it’s down to better recording by the
police. The private security industry
SEPTEMBER 2017 PROFESSIONAL SECURITY
Wakeup
call
on crime
is only too aware that the figures do
not reflect the true status of crime in
business; and in retail the theft and
fraud figures are well off the mark.
The ONS reported that almost five
million crimes were actually recorded
indicating that there was an increase
of over 458,000 compared with the
same period last year. The ONS said
that the surge was partly driven by the
rise in ‘violence against the person’
of 18pc (in England and Wales).
Reported knife crime rose by 20pc to
the highest figure recorded for seven
years to almost 35,000 incidents an
extremely worrying aspect of street
crime. Rapes and sexual offences
rose by 15pc and 14pc respectively
again to the highest level since current
recording methods were introduced
in 2002. While so called experts
maintain that the rise is partly due to
the fact that victims are now more
inclined to report attacks, we should
not forget those victims who never
come forward for a multitude of
reasons.
Fraud rise
As expected fraud including online
scams rose by 5pc although this
was less than I expected. I suspect
this is because many victims are too
embarrassed to admit they have been
conned, or paid up-front for things
such as holiday accommodation
which never existed. Villa scams are
just one of the new twists involving
fake websites offering cheap deals and
scammers advertising accommodation
which exists but neither owned or
managed by them. Many of these
scamming sites mirror the real thing
and are very convincing. Barclays
have been offering some sound advice
recently on how to protect yourself
against villa scammers. Search
‘Barclays Security’ to find out more.
Stranded
The worst part of this is that it often
leaves holiday-makers stranded and
owners or their genuine agents faced
with distraught families with nowhere
to go. These villa scammers exploit
the standard human weakness of
always seeking a bargain, pitching
their prices below market levels and
giving reasons for their low price such
as a last minute cancellation. It is not
unusual for scam websites to be only
up for a week being replaced with
firms of a different name fraudulently
displaying the ABTA logo usually
seen as a guarantee of legitimacy.
Concern
Victim support groups have expressed
concern. Prof David Wilson, a
well respected criminologist at
Birmingham City University (BCU),
was recently quoted as saying that
‘we know police numbers are at their
lowest for decades and we are now
seeing the consequences in rising
crime’. Nick Hurd the Police Minister
has said ‘We recognise that crime is
changing and we are determined to
get ahead of new and emerging threats
to the safety and security of our
families and communities.’ Whilst the
falling police numbers and the rising
crime statistics are an obvious concern
which must be tackled immediately,
we should not overlook the fact there
is a vast team fighting crime and its
effect on UK business. p
www.professionalsecurity.co.uk