‘Mind games' with a twist

It has the power to educate and inspire us in equal measure, often inducing tears of laughter or sadness by leading viewers through a gamut of scenarios. On occasion, broadcasts may also be deeply offensive by dint of appearing to trivialise the serious. For many practitioners in the security sector, that was certainly the case with ‘The Heist'.

Screened by Channel 4 on Wednesday 4 January, ‘The Heist' provided another showcase for Derren Brown, the "illusionist and hypnotist" made famous after a ‘live' TV game of Russian Roulette in Grouville (later revealed to be a hoax by Lenny Harper, chief officer for the States of Jersey Police).

Brown's latest televisual ‘stunt' gathered together a group of businessmen and women with the intention of subliminally influencing them by way of ‘mind games' such that they would perpetrate the armed robbery of a Cash-in-Transit vehicle (and net £100,000 in the process). In his own words, Brown wanted all of the participants to "experience something that made them feel great and exhilarated".

Scheduling a programme that dilutes such a serious crime by presenting it as light entertainment can only have one outcome. For the most part, people believe what they see in the nation's media. Consequently, there will be those who now think it fair game to target a Securitas or G4S Security Services (UK) cash vehicle for the reward of ‘easy money'.

The legacy of this broadcast could very well be the further endangerment of cash-handling crews and innocent members of the public caught up in armed robberies on the High Street. Armed robbery, by the way, is not entertainment.

Just ask the survivors of Cash-in-Transit assaults who have been attacked with iron bars, stabbed or otherwise seriously injured or traumatised to such a degree that they can no longer face the world, let alone work again. Of course, we cannot talk to those already murdered in the line of duty.

To their great credit, the GMB and the BSIA are jointly lobbying the Home Office on this issue. They want to see the Government act now, dedicating greater police resources to fighting this type of crime, imposing stricter sentencing for criminals and amending the planning laws such that safer cash handling methods are ‘engineered-in' to buildings.

If programmes like ‘The Heist' continue to be broadcast, all of this good work will be to no avail. Ofcom must think again.