GMB and BSIA urge Home Office to act on Cash-in-Transit crimes

Paul Kenny (acting general SECRETARY) AND Gary Smith (national officer) of the GMB Union have joined forces with Ian Nisbet, G4S Cash Services' UK managing director and David Dickinson - chief executive of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) - in a bid to persuade the Government it must do more in the war against Cash-in-Transit crime, instances of which are continuing to rise, reports Brian Sims.

Last year, there were 836 attacks on Cash-in-Transit crews compared with 763 in 2004 and 697 in 2003, making a hugely worrying grand total of 2,296 attacks in just three years. In the course of these disturbing incidents, 447 Cash-in-Transit crew members have been injured, no less than 58 of them seriously.

Firearms were used on over 700 occasions, with crew members also subject to assaults involving iron bars, stabbings, pistol whippings and severe beatings. In many cases, this has led to long-term physical and mental damage.

According to the latest BSIA statistics, the majority of Cash-in-Transit attacks occur in the Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester and West Midlands Police regions.

The UK's major High Street banks have increased their internal security, it seems, but this has only served to push the problem out onto the pavement.

"The attacks are now so commonplace they rarely warrant media attention," Paul Kenny told SMT. "They are a hidden crime, unless a police officer or a member of the public is involved. Our members are subject to horrifying attacks. Last year, one of our members, Colin Baker, was shot even before the robbers demanded any money. As his colleague in the vehicle called for the police and an ambulance, Colin was dragged across the forecourt by his attackers and is now permanently disabled."

The GMB and the BSIA are now seeking immediate action from the Home Office in the following areas:

• increased police resources dedicated to this type of crime (helping, for example, to gather more detailed intelligence on the organised criminal gangs behind robberies);

• stricter sentencing policies for convicted attackers (and in particular for those using firearms);

• the removal of parking restrictions banning Cash-in-Transit vehicles from town centre areas;

• safer areas and procedures for the transfer of cash and valuables in both banks and typical retail outlets;

• changes to the planning laws such that these safer cash handling methods are ‘engineered-in' to shopping centres, banks and retail outlets;

• fast-track routes and improved pick-up/drop-off arrangements for couriers;

• the greater use of CCTV in those areas where there are higher risks of attack.

Following the meeting at the Home Office on 18 January, BSIA chief executive David Dickinson contacted SMT and had this to say on the matter. "We are pleased that Hazel Blears is looking to target Cash-in-Transit robbery. Every year the industry invests in excess of £100,000,000 to tackle this problem, but now we are looking to the Government to provide much more support for what is, after all, an essential public service. That support would include re-classifying Cash-in-Transit robbery such that it receives a higher police priority. Currently, it is treated as a business crime but it's also a human crime."

• On behalf of its Cash-in-Transit member companies, the BSIA has lodged a formal complaint with Ofcom - the independent UK television regulator - following Channel 4's decision to broadcast ‘The Heist' on Wednesday 4 January.

The programme involved Derren Brown playing ‘mind games' with a set of businessmen and women such that, by association with certain variables, they would then carry out the robbery of a Cash-in-Transit vehicle. The BSIA feels that Channel 4 acted in breach of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code - in particular Section 3, Rules 3.1 and 3.6 - and is encouraging crime and endangering lives.

"The programme made Cash-in-Transit robbery look like ‘easy money', which is dangerous because it may well encourage others to commit this type of crime," said BSIA chief executive David Dickinson.