Protecting The Unexpected In 2012

By Author: Mark Duffy.
Total Articles: 4
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We live in extraordinary times, bizarre in that I’ve learned that there’s a lot more to SIA Training than you might think.

We live in extraordinary times, bizarre in that I’ve learned that there’s a lot more to SIA Training than you might think. I say this feeling slightly baffled after reading a report by the Daily Telegraph that the owners of metal sculptures, both private and public, have been advised by their insurers to re-think security measures after a spate of thefts by works of established artists from public places. Picture if you can this scene in South London’s Dulwich Park.

A seven foot-high metal sculpture by the artist Dame Barbara Hepworth valued at £500,000 was stolen from Dulwich Park in South London earlier this week. The thieves are thought to have used an axle grinder to sever the piece from its plinth before loading it into a vehicle to be then sold as scrap for as little as £750.00.

Although this story has a somewhat slapstick comedy element that wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of Only Fools and Horses however, when you include the seven ...
... churches which, in the run up to Christmas, were relieved of their stained glass windows in order to sell the lead content, the story takes on a slightly more sinister tone. As a result local authorities have been advised to replace metallic public monuments with fibreglass or wooden replicas.

Wandsworth Council displays another valuable bronze work by Barbara Hepworth in Battersea Park London. A spokesman for the council has said: “The council’s parks police service is stepping up patrols in the area and in addition the sculpture is covered by a CCTV camera which is being actively monitored. We are also looking at a range of additional security measures including fitting alarms which would be activated if anyone tampered with the sculpture.”

The Government are now locked in negotiations to clampdown on rogue scrap metal dealers who are costing the country a staggering £1 billion a year based on an estimated 1,000 offences per week in the UK alone with China as the final destination for the ‘laundered’ (melted down) metal. The perpetrators of these crimes don’t only limit themselves to public monuments either. An entire village was recently plunged into darkness when thieves made off with the electric cables used to light the village’s streets.

You’re no doubt asking yourself is what bearing does this article have on my security training. Well, what this commentary seeks to do is highlight the diversity of the work which the security industry is engaged in, especially when you consider that last month the Government announced it would invest £5 million on a security task force to tackle metal thieves, it brings into sharp focus what a valuable employment sector the UK’s security industry is.

Most articles relating to the security industry concentrate on the general core duties of Door Supervisors, Security Guards and CCTV Operators relating to the safety of people rather than things. The protection of public monuments or sculptures makes sense; they are after all part of what makes our towns and cities interesting. If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be writing about the need to protect the electric cables that light our streets I’d probably have laughed.

Crime prevention, which includes the work of the security industry, is now an entirely mixed picture. Detective Chief Superintendent, Darren Williams, who is now the head of the newly formed metal theft taskforce, said recently that there has been a ‘sea change’ in criminal activity representing direct attacks on our communities.

These often astonishingly complicated and totally premeditated criminal activities undoubtedly have a knock-on effect on Security Industry Training, standards are much higher and the ability of the professionals who succeed in their training have never been more in demand. The New Year is often a time when we make serious decisions about our future, none more so than the determination to find ourselves in a new and rewarding career.

Once you have achieved your target SIA License standard there are numerous appealing and financially rewarding work opportunities to look forward to that aren’t in the least bit dead-end. There are all sorts of unexpected assets in our society that need expert protection, if you got this far through this article you’ll now understand just how interesting and varied the work can be.
Resource: http://www.get-licensed.co.uk/