Archive for January, 2010

It has been announced by the Home Secretary that full body scanners will be introduced to all UK airports within the next 3 weeks. Alan Johnson also said that explosive trace detection equipment should be introduced at all airports by the end of the year. This announcement comes after Gordon Brown ordered a review of Security at UK airports.

BAA has reportedly begun training their staff in behavioural analysis techniques in an attempt to heighten security awareness. Transit passengers are also to face more scrutiny when passing through the UK as Farouk Abdulmutallab did on Christmas Day.

The Government is also looking at identity based profiling in the battle against terrorism. As expected civil liberty groups have reacted angrily to the new proposals.

Labour have called for knife crime to be treated in the same was as gun crime. They want anyone convicted of knife crime to face a custodial sentence except in the most exceptional of circumstances. This comes in the wake of the Scottish Parliamentary legislation to tackle the problem which Labour blasted an unacceptable failure

We make the same point we made on Jan 02 2010 that where are all these Prison places going to come from to deal with the problem? It is ridiculous that knife crime is treated less severely than gun crime and yet statistically you are more likely to die from a single stab wound than a gunshot wound.

You only have to look at the figures we published on the 02 Jan to see the scale of the problem facing the Criminal Justice System. While action groups have welcomed the latest move, logistically it is doomed to failure in our opinion.

It is a sad indictment of our society that people feel the need to carry knives and we believe the only way the problem is going to be tackled is by the police introducing beat officers in all areas. Beat officers are seldom seen on housing estates and any contact with the police is going to be seeing them drive or ride by. This style of policing is not getting to communities and the areas that need it. The ploice have a difficult job and it is up to the Government to  put its hand in its pocket and make cash available to recruit.

We reported a few days ago how Gordon Brown had ordered a review of security at all UK airports. BAA announced that it was to install full body scanners as a matter of urgency. We said at the time that while electronic systems were invaluable in the fight against terrorism, there were not the be all and end all. What makes the real difference is well trained motivated and valued staff. It is the training of staff that lets the whole security system down.

A report published today outlined that the full body scanners to be installed in the UK and in use by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the United States would be unlikely to have found the device carried by Farouk Abdulmutallab on the Detroit bound Nothwest Airlines flight 253 on Christmas Day.

These scanners intended for UK use work on millimetre wave and while they are effective in spotting items with a heavy density they are unable to detect lower density items such as clothing powders liquids etc. It is this property of millimetre wave scanners that cause the subject to appear naked in the scanner.

Because the device carried on Flight 253 was in powder form the concern is that even if full body scanning was in place the density of the PETN would have made it invisible. The US use X-ray backscatter scanning which is prone to also making less dense object very difficult if not impossible to detect although X-ray backscatter devices do provide a much sharper resolution.

http://www.examiner.com/x-28973-Essex-County-Conservative-Examiner~y2010m1d2-Fullbody-scanners-might-not-work-as-advertised

Well, Its another New Year and we are getting off to a flying start.

We have a Door Supervisors course beginning on the 08 Jan 2010 and finishing on Sun 10 Jan 2010. This course is the BII course and successful candidates will be able to apply for an SIA Door Supervision Licence.

We still have places available on this course and it costs £175pp.

Licensing requirements change in June of this Year and from June anyone enrolling on the Door Supervision course will have to complete a Disengagement and Breakaway module.

Recent figures released show that Homicides (murder manslaughter and infanticide) fell by 125 to 648 in 2008/09 the lowest figure recorded by police in 20 years.

The main reason for this fall however is not that the streets are becoming a safer place it is a combination of medical advances and technology.

Paramedics are better trained and carry more life saving equipment than ever. They have fast cars motorbikes and helicopters at their disposal. Ambulances carry ever more equipment allowing operations to be conducted roadside in order to stabilise a casualty. The proliferation of Mobile phones and town centre CCTV are also cited as contributory in the early warning of serious incidents.

Despite this fall the figures for serious violence. Serious woundings increased from 12,531 in 1997 to 15,122 in 2007/08 There has been a sharpe rise in the number of street shootings in London by young people in a bid to “earn respect”

If you would like information and training in Personal Safety and Edged Weapons Awareness then please email or phone us.
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Recently released figures show that only 2 people caught carrying knives were given the maximum 4 Year sentence.

2 Years ago the Government doubled the maximum term for carrying a knife in a public place from 2 to 4 Years.

Since then over 50000 people have been convicted of posessing a blade or other offensive weapon but only 6 have received the maximum term. Of those 6 only 2 were for carrying a knife or other bladed or pointed weapon.

256 people were stabbed to death in 2008/09 up a quarter since 1999.

The Government talks tough on knife crime but the official figures tell a much different story. The fact is that Prisons in the UK are already overcrowded so how could the maximum sentence be handed down for even half of the 50,000 recorded crimes? There just aren’t enough prison places.

The governments Violent Crime Action Plan is also flawed. The measures introduced in the wake of public outrage at the number of people being stabbed scrape the surface of the problem but the reality is that the vast majority of offenders who are caught are only given a caution.

The Law allows an individual to carry a knife as long as the cutting edge is 3 inches or less and the blade folds into the handle. Anyone found in possession must have reasonable excuse and lawful authority but what are the chances of being stopped and searched? Very limited unless its late at night, in a high crime area or the subject is already known to police.

We will keep you posted on developments in 2010.
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