A spike in business crime during April is predicted, with Richard Phillips, joint CEO of Cash Connect Management Solutions, warning businesses that as consumers go on holiday, volumes of cash increase in retail stores across the country.
Phillips said holidays were proving to be peak period for business for criminals, who, unlike consumers, did not take a break.
He said the trends show that syndicates attack in groups of six to 12 armed men, with registering the highest number of attacks, closely followed by business burglaries.
“During a burglary, the findings show that general retail stores that only trade during the day are attacked when the stores are closed for business – the pattern with these occurrences is that an assortment of cutting machines, angle grinders and the like are generally used to access safes,” said Phillips.
Security professionals caution that robberies are more often than not executed with careful planning by organised crime syndicates who collect as much information about the target as is possible. Information about the amount of cash and the general what, when and how the cash is protected is gleaned from within the business either by observation or by the help of employees or contractors, and in some cases, both.
“It is a commonly held view in the security industry that more than 90 per cent of all attacks on businesess involve voluntary or involuntary participation from the inside.”
“Time is a very important consideration of the attackers. The practice by some retail organisations of closing their stores or, in larger operations, the cash collection precinct within the store, during the cash in transit collection, has proved to be a particularly successful tactic in countering and reducing the risk for attack during the store’s most vulnerable time of day,” said Phillips
He added that in his experience only hardened and robust cash deposit devices offer meaningful resistance to the very violent attacks to which they are exposed.
Armed reaction companies suggest that businesses should make sure there is more than one panic button with quick, easy access of armed response on site. The jamming of security systems and devices is also a common tactic used to block the signals that go to the security company. The use of an alarm system connected to both a radio transmitter and landline could counter this, said Phillips.
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