Martin Gill

The handbook of security

Introduction M.Gill PART ONE: SECURITY AS A DISCIPLINE A History of Security R.D.McCrie The Study of National Security Versus the Study of Corporate Security: What Can They Learn from Each Other? C.Stapley , S.Grillot & S.Sloan Engineering Principles for Security Managers B.B.Rogers Contributions of Environmental Studies to Security R.H.Schneider Forensic Security and the Law D.B.Kennedy The Study of Intelligence and Its Contributions to Security J.D.Calder Criminology G.Farrell & K.Pease PART TWO: CRIMES AND ORGANISATIONS Employee Theft and Staff Dishonesty R.C.Hollinger & J.L.Davis The Extent, Nature and Responses to Workplace Violence Globally: Issues and Findings E.Licu & B.S.Fisher Combating White-Collar and Organised Economic Crimes: Some Reflections on the Role of Security M.Levi Commercial Burglary R.I.Mawby Shoptheft R.Hayes & C.Cardone Terrorism P.Wilkinson Information Security J.Crampton , K.G.Paterson , F.Piper & J.B.Robshaw PART THREE: SECURITY SERVICES The Security Officer A.Wakefield Store Detectives & Loss Prevention R.Hayes Private Investigators T.Prenzler CCTV: Is it Effective? M.Gill Shrinkage and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID): Prospects, Problems and Practicalities A.Beck PART FOUR: SECURITY MANAGEMENT Management J.Bamfield Risk Management M.L.Garcia Disaster and Crisis Management D.Elliott PART FIVE: ISSUES IN SECURITY Regulation of Private Security: Models for Analysis M.Button & B.George Corporate Security: A Cost or Contributor to the Bottom Line? D.Challinger Trends in the Development of Security Technology C.Smith Theorising About Security G.Manunta & R.Manunta

Security management and crime in hotels

This article presents the results of an exploratory investigation into the role of the security manager in the UK hotel industry, an area of management that has been under‐researched. In addition, this paper provides qualitative evidence about the range of crime experienced by hotels, and how this crime is managed. The paper utilises information from in‐depth interviews with five specialised security managers representing large hotels in London and 65 owners and managers of small hotels in London, Salisbury, Leicester and Brighton, UK. The findings indicate that the role of the security manager, at least in these hotels, is perceived to have undergone a process of transformation. Traditional security responsibilities of guarding and loss prevention have been broadened to include health and safety, IT security, disciplinary action, fire safety and insurance. Hotels are also shown to be unique contexts, facing a broad range of crime problems.

Private Security: Enforcing Corporate Security Policy Using Private Investigators

This article focuses on the use of private investigators as external agents, commissioned to enforce internal corporate security policy. After describing the sorts of services private investigators provide to industry and commerce and the legal contexts within which they operate, it considers private investigators as a form of secret police within private justice systems defined by companies. It considers the relationship between notions of public good and commercial expediency and raises important questions about the problem of controlling activities which are purposefully kept from legal scrutiny.

The victimisation of business: indicators of risk and the direction of future research

There has been comparatively little research on crime against businesses, although there is a growing amount of evidence that businesses are much more likely to suffer certain types of crime than households. This paper incorporates a review of recent surveys and reports on findings of a study of 2,618 businesses. The paper begins by discussing some ethodological issues and then discusses the findings on the levels of crime reported by business, and seeks to identify those finns most at risk. Overall, the paper concludes that crime against business is relatively high and that some businesses are disproportionately likely to suffer victimisation, not least those in the transport and retail sectors. Moreover, the survey findings suggest that the smallest businesses are common victims. Precisely because risk of crime differs, and the risk of victimisation from different offences varies, so there is a need to match type of crime prevention measures to type of risk. The findings suggest a need for much more focused research on how, where and why crime is concentrated on a few repeat victims.

Does CCTV displace crime

Crime displacement is a concern often raised regarding situational crime prevention measures. A national evaluation of closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) has provided an interesting test-bed for displacement research. A number of methods have been used to investigate displacement, in particular visualization techniques making use of geographical information systems (GIS) have been introduced to the identification of spatial displacement. Results concur with current literature in that spatial displacement of crime does occur, but it was only detected infrequently. Spatial displacement is found not to occur uniformly across offence type or space, notably the most evident spatial displacement was actually found to be occurring within target areas themselves. GIS and spatial analysis have been shown to complement more typical crime analysis methods and bring a much needed dimension to the investigation of displacement.

Policing as a business: The organisation and structure of private investigation

This paper, based on an empirical study, considers the characteristics of private investigation as a business enterprise. It reveals that private investigators most commonly work in small, autonomous units with very little centralisation and a largely informal structure that has changed little since Victorian times. There is currently no statutory regulation, little available training and recruitment is often based on knowing the right people. The article reports on how investigators are recruited and the types of professional experience that are valued, the age and size of businesses, and the steps taken to safeguard both their own interests and those of their clients. It ends by suggesting that most private investigation agencies can be classified as either ‘home‐based’, ‘high street’, ‘regional’, or ‘prestige’ and that despite their autonomous structures and the need to compete with each other, they can and do combine to offer clients a national and even international service which is rarely available ...

Redeployable CCTV and drug-related crime: A case of implementation failure

In the UK, CCTV is a tool that is commonly used for fighting crime despite the fact that independent studies have disagreed on whether and to what extent it works. To date there has been little work that has focused specifically on the impact of CCTV in tackling drug crime. The aim of the research on which this paper is based was to assess the effectiveness of a different type of CCTV, termed redeployable CCTV, in tackling drug crimes. In theory, redeployable CCTV systems have a major advantage over static CCTV systems as they can be moved around a community to tackle crime hot spots, as such they were considered ideal for tackling drug crime. The methodology included extensive periods of observation in three police areas, stakeholder interviews and assessments of relevant documentation. The findings were disappointing in that the desired impact was not achieved, in part because of implementation failure, therefore this paper concentrates on the process of implementation. The conclusions highlight the implications for policy and crime prevention.

Employing Ex‐Offenders: A Risk or an Opportunity?

This paper considers barriers to the employment of ex-offenders. It is based on interviews with offenders in the last six months of their sentence, employers with experience of employing ex-offenders and other specialists including probation officers and employment officers. The findings suggest that ex-offenders seeking work can count on very little help from the criminal justice system and that both employers and ex-offenders are ignorant about the risks and opportunities which exist. Indeed, obtaining work for ex-offenders may depend as much on eradicating ignorance amongst employers as it does on focusing help on ex-offenders.

Senior police officers' perspectives on private security: sceptics, pragmatists and embracers

The police have traditionally been sceptical about working with some groups, and the private security sector is foremost amongst them. Arguments that there are too many negatives associated with a service that is accountable to only those who can pay can be balanced by its potential to offer more cost-effective ways of policing, not least in an austere economic climate. This article reports on interviews with police leaders about attitudes towards working with, and outsourcing functions to the private security sector. Amongst police leaders, both supportive and cautious attitudes were identified and three ‘ideal types’ of views emerged: sceptics, pragmatists and embracers.

CCTV: Reflections on Its Use, Abuse and Effectiveness

It is a pertinent time to reflect upon the use of CCTV. As some areas withdraw funding from their CCTV systems, others are expanding coverage and upgrading to Intelligent CCTV (ICCTV) or ‘smart’ CCTV supplemented with facial recognition and a range of other capabilities. Since the Metropolitan Police first installed CCTV cameras in Trafalgar Square in 1960 (Williams, 2003), CCTV as a crime control measure has become more complex. Indeed, technological developments have increased the array of possible uses but, at the same time, have also raised the number of issues that need to be managed. This chapter aims to chart the challenges facing the effective deployment and integration of CCTV into security responses. It will discuss the prevalence of CCTV, explore the evidence pertaining to whether it ‘works’ as a crime control technology and consider what the future for this much debated and controversial technology might hold. Although much of the research refers to CCTV, we also discuss visual data derived via other types of cameras and consider the rise of ‘sousveillance’ (Mann et al., 2003).