The audience each time knew what was going to come, but it still came as a shock when it did. The two motorcycles roared in from Canary Wharf into the East Wintergarden, to the scene: a jewellery store counter. The men wore black and helmets. While the riders stayed at their machines, two men – one with an axe, one a machete – shouted and swore at the customers and staff to make them compliant while one man smashed the glass of the counter with the axe. He hurriedly stuffed jewellery into the bag he was carrying. One interesting detail was that the robber standing at the door shouted ‘one minute!’ – evidently the robbers know well that time is of the essence if they are to make as safe a get-away as they can. And they did.
This was an enactment – by Various Productions – of a jewellery robbery, and was arranged by the Met Police, and the one-year-old Police and Security (PaS) initiative in London; compered by Charlie Gordon Lennox, CEO of The Keyholding Co, one of the sponsors, and the Met; hosted by Canary Wharf; and sponsored by various security companies. One was Warrior Doors, who provided the door, pictured. To the afternoon attenders of the event – it was repeated, morning and afternoon – looked quite bashed. That made sense with the close of the event; enacted again, this time the security officer on duty inside the shop closed and locked the door in good time, and got those indoors away while the robbers assaulted the door – in vain – with a sledgehammer. One robber in frustration had a kick. As the door resisted the attack, again to avoid interception by the police the motorcycles roared away.
Certainly it made a change from the usual business exhibition of products and services. As one of the security suppliers attending, Simon Chapman, MD of Lodge Service, put it to Professional Security afterwards: “Great.”
And it put points across as to how to stop a smash and grab; or, if the robbers did enter and ‘grab’, at least to stay safe during the brief but stressful robbery and afterwards to not in ignorance destroy what could be crucial forensic evidence. Two Met Police forensic examiners described to the audience – of jewellery retailers such as Signet, related businesses such as the hoteliers Doubletree by Hilton; business groups in the capital such as the New West End Company and the South Bank BID, and retail security guarding companies – how to preserve the crime scene, first by closing the shop. CCTV is important – not only for possible clues, but as an aid to those forensic examiners. By viewing CCTV of where the robbers walked, the examiners can narrow their search. Hence they appreciate being able to view CCTV on arrival at the scene.
The event closed with some ‘actions to take away’ to pass to staff who may be at risk from a ‘smash and grab’:
– before the event, share suspicious details; robbers may carry out ‘hostile reconnaissance’. Watch out for the known methods; and practice your incident response. Customers during a robbery will look to staff; and staff will look to Security. If a fire alarm goes off in a building, even if we are not familiar with it, we know the sorts of things to do; is the same true in a jewellery shop?
– during the event, be compliant; and that includes Security, as you are unarmed and the robbers are armed. Keep calm. And put your hands up, as a simple way of showing compliance and that you are not trying to phone 999 or to press any secret panic alarm button.
– and after the event, preserve the scene; first, by shutting the business until police arrive.
Among those who spoke at the event were Geoff Zeidler, of the PaS; and Met Commander Simon Letchford. Sponsors were 3SI Security Systems; Warrior Doors; VSG; Oncam; Concept Smoke; Fog Bandit; SelectaDNA; the Master Locksmiths Association (MLA); and The Keyholding Company, based in SW6.
More words and pictures in the December 2015 print issue of Professional Security magazine.
