27-11draft

News
Top, a demo by an
exhibitor FogBandit,
of the fogging product.
Right: Natasa Wilson,
RAC admin assistant;
Gemma Sellar, Regional
Executive for Northern
Ireland and north west
England; Gary Parkes,
RAC chairman, regional
loss prevention manager,
Next; Maxine Fraser;
Stephanie Karté, Regional
Executive Scotland; and
Jim McFedries, RAC Vice
chairman and head
of profit protection
and security, Scotmid
Cooperative
Photos courtesy of Retailers
Against Crime
14
Amber Rudd
UNHAPPY
‘A quarter of Brits
access digital material
illegally, and often
don’t realise the risks
associated with that, for
them and their
families.’
Kieron Sharp, Director
General of FACT
(Federation Against
Copyright Theft).
high-profile attacks:
Acid ban
proposed
The Home Secretary Amber Rudd has
announced proposals to ban sale of
acids to under-18s, prevent children
purchasing knives online and restrict
access to dangerous firearms. As the
UK Government admits, this follows
a recent rise in police-recorded knife
and firearms offences, and acid
attacks. The Government will first
consult, including on a new offence of
possession of a corrosive substance in
public and restricting online sales of
knives so they cannot be delivered to
a private residential address and must
be collected at a place where age ID
can be checked. Rudd also spoke of
plans for a new ‘Serious Violence
strategy’, published in early 2018.
Speaking to the Conservative Party
annual conference, in Manchester,
she said: “Acid attacks are absolutely
revolting. You have all seen the
pictures of victims that never fully
recover. Endless surgeries. Lives
ruined.” She also proposed a review
of the Poisons Act to limit the public
sale of sulphuric acid, “given its use
in the production of so-called ‘mother
of Satan’ homemade explosives”.
l Also announced last month, a
police-run hub to take online hate
crime reports, due to start before the
end of the year; and a change to terror
law, so that people who repeatedly
view terrorist content online could
face up to 15 years in prison. p
US, China in cyber talks: Last month
top officials co-chaired the first
US-China Law Enforcement and
Cybersecurity Dialogue (LECD), as
agreed by US President Trump and
Chinese President Xi at their first
meeting in April, and as pursued by
President Obama and featured in
Professional Security in November
2015. As agreed then, neither
country’s government will conduct
or knowingly support cyber-enabled
theft of intellectual property. p
How Irish pay: Since October 1,
the Private Security Authority, the
Republic of Ireland’s equivalent of
the SIA, has stopped a facility to pay
later for those applying for a licence
for the first time, online. p
NOVEMBER 2017 PROFESSIONAL SECURITY
Anniversary day in Glasgow
Some 200 delegates attended the
20th anniversary conference of
the loss prevention body Retailers
Against Crime (RAC) in Glasgow.
The day’s topics were
information sharing and
the emphasis on educating
staff on what to look, said Maxine
Fraser from RAC. She was among
the speakers at ST17 in Glasgow a
fortnight earlier. She told Professional
Security: “Tagging, EAS systems and
security, are all key to deterring crime.
However without educating staff on
what to lookout for the thieves will
still succeed. No matter what tagging
system you have, the professional
criminals will eventually find a way
to overcome it. Customer service is
obviously a key deterrent, however
professional and organised groups
or teams will not be put off by staff
asking to assist, they will simply
engage with the staff member whilst
others are selecting and concealing
Ransom response: A new approach
is needed if terrorist groups are not
to continue to benefit from multimillion-dollar
cash injections. That’s
according to a report, Closing the
Gap, by the UK think-tank on defence
and security, RUSI. The Royal United
Services Institute suggests a global,
rigorously applied and scrupulously
monitored commitment to prevent
any concessions to terrorists, to
eliminate hostage-taking as a source
of terrorist finance. The unsatisfactory
status quo can be improved at once by
shifting responsibility for ransoming
from governments to the private
sector, write Anja Shortland and Tom
Keatinge. p
stock in the background. Businesses
that invest in crime reduction
measures and education to deter
crime will help create an environment
where staff feel supported and
their businesses will thrive.” Police
Scotland Assistant Chief Constable
Wayne Mawson, a return speaker,
hailed the joint working: “At a local
level over 300 police officers based in
our community can access the secure
members site on the RAC website
and also receive regular bulletins on
the most up to date intelligence.” Pete
Cheema of trade body the Scottish
Grocers Federation said afterwards:
“We look forward to developing our
partnership with RAC and engaging
with their wider stakeholders as we
attempt to bring legislation forward to
protect shop workers and create safer
retail.” p
l Gary Parkes has stood down as
RAC chairman after three years;
he's also moved job to Matalan. Jim
McFedries has become chairman.
Football takedown: Recent American
Football games at Wembley Stadium
prompted an awareness campaign
about NFL fake merchandise.
Detective Inspector Nicholas Court,
of the City of London Police’s
Intellectual Property Crime Unit,
said: “So far we have overseen more
than 28,000 takedowns of websites
selling counterfeit goods, a number
of which have had NFL branded
items listed. In doing so we have
prevented thousands of consumers
from becoming victims, duped into
handing over their personal and
payment details to criminals who
often commit further crime through
identity theft.” p
www.professionalsecurity.co.uk
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