EXECUTIVE REPORT
Scams and threats
Nick Johnson reports from the recent CITS Conference where good practical advice was given on how to protect your hire business from theft and fraudulent activities.
The recent Conference staged by the Combined Industries Theft Solutions (CITS) organisation and hosted by Lombard in the City of London provided plenty of food for thought. Presentations revealed scary examples of theft and fraud along with practical ways on how to counter the threats of not only machine theft, but also data loss and financial scams.
At the start of the Conference, CITS Chairman David Smith revealed just how alert companies need to be if they are not to be a victim of increasingly sophisticated crimes. He emphasised how employees at all levels in a hire company must be proactive in “keeping the door locked”. He cited the necessity of taking such measures as increasing the frequency of IT back-ups, improving record checks - both internally and externally - and protecting whistle blowers to encourage employees to report wrongdoing.
The first guest speaker was Detective Inspector Neil Corbel of the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC). He started his presentation with the alarming statistic that business crime now accounts for 25% of all crime. The NBCC now provides a central resource for Police and businesses to learn, share and support each other to prevent and combat business crime. In order to encourage much greater reporting of such activity, Neil Corbel says that the NBCC aspires to be the “go-to place” at email:
contact@nbcc.police.uk for all businesses that have been affected by business crime.
Detective Constable Amanda Cousins with the new PANIU Theft Prevention Advice sheet for Surveying Equipment.
To aid cross-border information sharing and crime fighting, the NBCC has established contacts in each of the UK’s regional Police forces. These formal links facilitate intelligence and information exchange to help disrupt organised business criminality at a national level.
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The Centre can also help organisations combat crime by being a conduit of best practice advice.
Focal point for intelligence
Detective Constable Amanda Cousins then spoke about the work of the Plant & Agricultural National Intelligence Unit (PANIU). Staffed by four officers, this specialist national Police unit acts as a focal point for all intelligence relating to the theft of construction and agricultural equipment. It supports Police forces across the UK by sharing advice and maintaining a nationwide record of stolen machinery.
Since it was created in 2008, PANIU has been actively involved in the recovery of stolen plant and equipment. In April this year it instigated Operation Hexagon in co-operation with the Romanian Police to retrieve stolen items of surveying equipment and arrest suspects. It is also tackling fraudulent hire activity.
Caught on CCTV: a stolen telescopic handler being used by thieves at night to prise out and remove an ATM.
Usefully, PANIU has been producing specific Theft Prevention Advice for commonly stolen plant and equipment. At the CITS Conference, delegates were able to pick up a new A4 sheet giving practical hints on how to protect surveying equipment from thieves. Another good initiative is the creation of the PANIU National Police network. This brings together officers in each Police force that has specific plant and vehicle recovery expertise in order to pool intelligence.
Interestingly, Amanda Cousins reported that there has been an increase in the theft of older machinery that lacks the security features of modern kit. And there has also been a big rise in the theft of inadequately immobilised telescopic handlers - both from construction sites and farms - which are then used at night to help thieves prise out and steal ATMs from buildings in rural areas. Such high-profile thefts cause much distress and inconvenience to the affected local communities.
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