Bluewater Business Against Crime recently hosted a visit by Bank of England trainers to the Kent shopping mall for a third year, to familiarise staff with key points of forged bank notes.
Retailers and security staff from other of the county’s crime reduction partnerships also attended. There were two, one hour training sessions where store staff were shown what to look out for to identify the differences between genuine and counterfeit currency. They were also briefed on how to deal with persons presenting counterfeit notes.
Everyone attending the sessions was presented with folders containing up-to-date information on counterfeit notes and training materials and leaflets to take back to their stores for other staff.
Penny Bassett, Kent Police intelligence co-ordinator for Bluewater said afterwards: ‘We are a very large high end shopping and leisure destination not only for Kent, but for much of London and the south east as well as visitors from across the channel. As such we are a prime target for crime, including theft, countertfeit currency and card fraud by professional thieves who target the centre. We have seen the benefits of using the Bank’s training programme in raising awareness not only of counterfeit currency, but of other suspicious transactions and the people involved. With our radio link and CCTV we can put them under surveillance to see exactly what they are doing and who they are meeting up with. This has been helpful in identifying crime risks and dealing with them before they turn into serious commercial losses. The Bank of England is always very keen to come and train staff and it has helped us to reduce the incidence of countetrfeit currency.’
For more information about this service visit: www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes
