RiskUKDecember2017

The Security Industry
Authority’s vision is
one of a private
security industry so
committed to
improving standards
and protecting the
public that, over time,
it will need minimal
regulation. This vision
is underpinned by the
Regulator’s close
working relationships
with partner
stakeholders, the
industry and members
of the public alike, as
Mark Burtonwood
explains in detail
Using Your Intelligence
Critical to successful collaboration is the
sharing of information that allows the
Regulator to build a rich picture, enabling
us to concentrate our efforts for maximum
impact, while at the same time regulate in a
way that’s proportionate, risk-based and
focused on the non-compliant.
The information you give us has a real impact
and helps us to ensure that we’re as effective
as possible. We can gather information in a
variety of ways. First, there’s information or
intelligence we receive from the private security
industry and the general public as well as the
intelligence we gather when we conduct our
compliance checks across the UK.
In addition, there’s the intelligence received
from law enforcement partners and
organisations within our networks.
The members of our intelligence team review
and assess everything that’s sent to us. When
something’s reported, we use it to build a
bigger picture and develop this into
intelligence. Information becomes intelligence
when we can apply and use it to support our
intervention activities. We refer intelligence to
our compliance teams, including our
partnerships and interventions teams, who
then take the appropriate action.
The quality of the information sent to us is
crucial. Information that includes the names of
people, places and behaviour of concern gives
us the detail we need in order to act. Whether
you’re contacting us via Crimestoppers or our
website, this is precisely why we ask for as
much detail as possible.
While anyone sending us information can
choose to be anonymous, if you’re willing to
identify yourself, this will help us to verify the
information and pinpoint willing witnesses. It
also means that documentation relating to
offending enables our ability to effectively
resolve issues.
The kind of detail we ask for is usually Who?
(the names of any individuals suspected of
illegal activity and the sectors in which they
work), What? (ie a description of the incident
that has led to an individual being reported),
Where? (the name of the company for whom
the individual works or where they work) and,
of course, When? (times and dates associated
with the report).
We use this to direct our enforcement activity
and support our licensing decisions or as
evidence in a prosecution. We may also send
such information to a partner agency.
Gathering vital information
We work collaboratively with several partners
and other Government agencies and continually
share information with them. These bodies
include the police service, the Department of
Work and Pensions, the Insolvency Service, Her
Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and Home
Office Immigration Enforcement.
We’re also a part of various networks across
the UK that work to reduce organised crime.
These networks meet to share and gather
information. It’s often through the networks
that we find out about licence holders who
pose a risk to the public or a business with
alleged poor working practices that we need to
investigate. We carefully evaluate the
information we receive from our partners and
then decide upon the appropriate action.
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is often
asked why it doesn’t give updates to members
of the public after they’ve sent information to
us. In practice, the amount of information we
can provide about cases in the investigation
stage is usually very limited. The main reason
for this is to ensure that ongoing investigations
and law enforcement work are not
compromised. We must also avoid prejudicing
the right of defendants to a fair trial, or causing
avoidable reputational damage or harm to
individuals or businesses under investigation.
There are exceptional circumstances when
we may decide to go public on an investigation.
For instance, the individual or company under
investigation might make the information
public. There may be operational reasons such
as a call for witnesses, or we could consider
that there’s a real threat to public safety. On
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