CGC Crime Prevention January 2007

8/13/2019 CGC Crime Prevention January 2007

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CASH IN TRANSIT ROBBERIES IN THE RETAIL INDUSTRY

Page 1Safe Shopping is our Business!

EDITORS NOTE

Bulletin - January 2007S

o 2006 has been forgotten, confined to history. It was a

difficult year for the Crime Prevention Programme. The

launch of Phase 2 ID Cards, in spite of all the planning, dry

runs, an initial run with a company for 500 cards, proved incredibly

difficult. However, with much effort from the Crime office staff,

varying levels of tolerance and upset on the part of our members,

eventually the initial phase (getting cards to existing staff) was

completed in the last quarter of the year. We are now printing 2 or 3

here, 10 there, for new staff at our member companies.

Armed Robberies continued to plague us throughout the year,

although November & December bucked the trend. We had

significantly less incidents during these 2 months. A note of thanks

has been sent to the National Commissioner on your behalf,

commending the Police for their high levels of visibility during this

period and its concomitant effect on reducing crime. What a sight

to see a police helicopter land and 20 policemen, armed with assault

rifles and dressed in body armour, disembark and move through a

shopping centre with purpose.

This year our goal is to bring the Crime Prevention Programme to

our members. Each and every company should benefit from theservices we provide, and if there are services we are not providing but

should be we want to know.

Let 2007 be a year of delivery value to you.

Keep Safe.

Michael Broughton

Director of The Crime Prevention Programme

The mission of the Crime

Prevention Programme(CPP) of the Consumer

Goods Council of South Africa

(CGCSA) is to co-ordinate the

individual anti-crime efforts of the

Consumer Goods Industry, through

sharing of non-competitive information,

in order to develop industry solutions to

reduce crime for the benefit, not just of

our industry, but South Africa as a

whole.

It is also with this mission in mind that

the CGCSA are in partnership with

organisations such as BAC (Business

Against Crime), CRAG, SABRIC (South

African Banking Risk Intelligence Centre).

Cash in transit is not the core business

of CPP but the programme is more

involved with armed robberies, burglaries

and hijackings. Part of the CPP s

function is to gather as much information

as possible with regards to crime. The

information shared with you is based on

research conducted by various experts.

The nature and extent of CITEven with our limited knowledge and

information from trend analysis, it will

appear that when statistics of crime

decline in one sector, there is an increasein another. Very much like a see-saw to

which experts refer to as crime

displacement. Currently this seems the

case with decline in bank robberies but an

increase in CIT. As also stated by

Anthony Altbeker, from the institute of

Security Studies during a recent seminar

on this subject, this information does not

claim that this form of displacement is the

sole or even the dominant reason why CIT

rates continue to grow.

SABRIC (South African Banking Risk

Intelligence Centre) defines CIT as a


2/8Page2Safe Shopping is our Business!

Bulletin - January 2007

robbery of cash while in transit, and is the

unlawful, intentional and violent removal

and appropriation of cash or assets in

transit, while they are under the control ofa security company. This may include

incidents inside or outside a bank and/or

other premises, depending on the

circumstances. This may further include

removal and appropriation of cash or

assets under threat of violence. This

general guideline allows for cash or any

other assets that are under the control of

the security company. (SAPS Journal

September/October 2004) When a

personnel member is robbed it is referred

to as X-Pavement (cross pavement).

The perpetrators are lured to the crime

because the takings are so high, albeit the

same with risks. Economic circumstances

in South Africa may contribute to the need

for cash as the economic growth meant

that there was a higher demand for

increased cash circulation (SABRIC).

The CIT component includes

companies who run both CIT andguarding services. It is therefore difficult

to estimate the size of this component of

the industry. The Security Officers

Board classifies 412 businesses as cash in

transit business. Of the 679 CIT vehicles

in operation, over 85 percent are

armoured. (Private Security IndustryPolicing for Profit: the future of South

Africa s private Sector). The CIT industry

had lost more that R256 million through

armed robberies and more than 400

guards had been killed or seriously injured

between 1996 2001. Robberies peaked

in 2000 when more than R72 million was

stolen through CIT robberies and armed

robberies in the industry amounted to 455.

(Dispatch online)

According to a publication by Shaun

Chetty in the SAPS Journal of September

2004, the modus operandi will differ

among the groups and the heists are

carefully planned and researched before it

takes place.

What, then, is the affect on publicOn 13 August 2004, a gang of robbers

attempted to heist a CIT van. A proactive

operation was held by members of the

Serious and Violent Crime Unit at Head

Office in conjunction with the

Intervention Unit of the SAPS. When

these members moved in on the suspects,

they attempted to flee the scene and

opened fire on the SAPS members who

returned fire. The vehicle used by the

suspects came to a standstill and burst into

flames. Three suspects died at the scene

(burnt to death), one died in hospital and

two others were arrested. This incident

took place in a busy street and it is evident

that the safety of the public did not matterto the robbers at all. According to Supt

Paula Roeland of the SVC Unit, when a

CIT heist is committed several charges

can be made against the perpetrators, such

as armed robbery, illegal possession of

firearms, murder, attempted murder and

the possession of stolen vehicles. It all

depends on what happens at the crime

scene. Sometimes suspects even pour

petrol over the armed vehicle and threaten

to set the van alight if the guards do not

open the doors. Sometimes they shoot at

the windscreen and they even shoot

underneath the wheels of the vehicle into

the cabin where the guards are sitting, in

an attempt to force them to open the

vehicle s doors.

(www.saps.gov.za/docs_publs/publicatio

ns/journal/septoct04/cash.htm)

What set s SA s CIT apart is not their

frequency but their levels of violence and

loss of life, says Pierre Steyn, the head of

BAC s aggravated robbery programme.

International crime statistics show that

more CIT robberies take place in the UK,

Belgium and even Sweden, though

without the fatality rate.

This phenomenon has negative

ramifications which not only affects the

cash in transit (CIT) industry but also thecommunity at large. CIT robberies in

South Africa are mostly associated with

aggravated violence. The effect on the


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IMS

Page3Safe Shopping is our Business!

public can mainly be divided in Physical,

Mental and Financial Impacts

Quo vadis (Where to next?)

According to Richard Phillips of QD

Group, with the ever increasing

attractiveness of cash as a primary target

of crime, both the challenges and cost of

protecting cash from internal and externaltheft has become the dilemma of not only

our banks and CIT companies but more

and more the domain of every retailer

According to the CIT JOC (Joint

Operational Centre) small numbers of

criminals can have a disproportionate

impact on business operations as a

disharmony exists in terms of the numbers

of perpetrators vis--vis the strategic

effect they manage to exert on business.

The CIT environment needs to unite

efforts to close down the crime space to

own terms and a better coordination of

effort is required to control CIT crime.

(CIT JOC Concept of operations, May

2006).

Individuals should raise their level of

situational awareness while in the vicinity

of CIT vehicles and personnel and avoid

areas where they located to the maximum

extent possible (Private Security Industry

Policing for Profit: the future of South

Africa s private Sector)

The Cash Risk Management (CRIM)

programme involved all organisations that

are part of the supply chain of cash

movements or could contribute towards

the reduction of CIT risk. These

organisations include SARB, CIT

Industry, South African banking Risk

Information Centre (SABRIC), Business

against Crime (BAC), major banks,

Consumer Goods Council (CGC) and the

South African Petroleum Industry

Association (SAPIA). The CRIM project

is focusing on setting minimum standards

for the cash management industry which

is targeting tol contribute towards the

demise of this phenomena.

The rate of Armed Robberies increased between 2004/2005 (a recorded 16.5%),between 2005/2006 Armed Robberies has increased by a further 10.8%.

Armed Robberies therefore remain an area of huge concern.



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ID CARDS

Page4Safe Shopping is our Business!

The provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape accounted for 90% of all the Armed Robberies.

Gauteng is the highest risk province (2006:especially Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Randburg),

followed by KwaZulu-Natal, more specifically Durban area.

The number of incidents within Western Cape are increasing with a significant 40% over the period 2005/2006,

more specifically within the Cape Town area.

To start off the new year we have

got a total of 195,025 employees

on the ERS database. It has grown

by approximately 3000 new individualssince December last year.

Of the 195,025 details 21,609 individuals

have got two companies linked to their

name. This means that they have worked

at more then one company in the industry.

On the usage stats side, the industry did

quite a few checks through out the year.

Whole Industry Usage Stats for 2006

8708

9765 12

494

14807 31

804

16803

1002

814860

9416

11300

13579

4239

1

10

100

1000

10000

100000

Jan-06

Feb-0

6Ma

r-06

Apr-0

6Ma

y-06

Jun-06

Jul-06

Aug-0

6Se

p-06

Oct-0

6No

v-06

Dec-0

6

As you can see by the graph, during the May month for the deadline for access card

applications there was an increase in the amount of reference checks and as the months went

by there after they fluctuated until December where it was at the lowest for the whole year.



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ERS DEPARTMENT & ID CARDS

MEDIA RELEASE - DEPOSIT SLIP - REFUND SCAMS

Safe Shopping is our Business!

The ERS department has seen quite

a few changes in the past year

with regards to staff changing and

different procedures. It has been one the

busiest years yet but ended in a successful

one.

All the access cards have been supplied to

all companies. We do have a few sitting

here, but we await payment for these

cards before we can release them.

At present we are sitting on a turn around

time for printing of cards at 24 hours once

payment has been received. This is an

achievement which the CGC Crime

Prevention Programme is proud of.

The total number of members is sitting

on 1995. We still receive new requests

on a daily basis and look forward to

2007 shared with all of them.

13 April 2006

The South African Banking

Information Centre (SABRIC)

has warned the public of

widespread deposit slip and refund scams

which are targeted at retailers and service

providers throughout South Africa.

SABRIC CEO, Advocate Gilbert Swats

says the fraudsters have succeeded in

swindling their victims and their main

targets have been guest houses, caterers,

tyre companies and pet shops in all

provinces. He explains the most

common scam is what purports to be a

cash purchase where the customer

deposits the money into the retailer s bank

account and provides proof of payment.

Usually the deposit is by way of a cheque,

but the deposit slip is amended to reflect a

cash deposit. The deposit is faxed to the

dealer who releases goods to the

customer. A few days later the deposited

amount is reversed on the dealer s bank

account because the cheque was either

stopped or found to be fraudulent.

Advocate Swats, says although it is a

preferred business practice to secure

payments for goods or services upfront

and providing customers with banks

details for deposits has become

acceptable, there are risks associated with

giving out business banking details to

third parties.

Businesses are advised not to accept

faxed deposit slips, but if they do so, not

to release goods until the cheque clearanceperiod has expired.

Swats says that a variance of the scam

occurs when service providers are

approached for a quotation, which is then

accepted, and payment made into the

provider s bank account. A larger deposit

is then made and the service provider

informed that the deposit was made in

error, for example, that two deposits were

mixed up. A refund of the difference in

the amount of the deposit and the

quotation is sought. The request is

accompanied with a very clear motivation

as to why the refund needs to be done

immediately. Unsuspecting service

providers comply and make cash and

cheque refunds or internet transfers. The

deposit by the customer is then reversed

when the bank dishonours the cheque

because it was stopped or fraudulently

drawn resulting in the service provider

suffering financial loss.

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Service providers should be wary of customers who insist to

pay in advance for services or goods. When a larger deposit than

required is made, a red flag should go up. Why would any

person pay more than required? The service provider must insist

on waiting for the clearance period for a cheque deposit to

expire, even if the payment purports to be cash or an internet

transfer before making a refund payment.

It is important for a retailer or service provider to understand

the concept of uncleared effects of funds.

Banking clients must take extra care to ensure that any

deposited funds are cleared before they transact against such

deposits. The terminology used for internet banking sometimes

differs slightly from that used on bank statements and retailers

need to familiarise themselves with these terms. Any refund

done via internet banking should only be done after the cheque

clearance period has expired.

Businesses are advised to contact the South African Police

Service: Banking Group Commercial Branches with detailsbelow to ensure that the scams are reported accordingly.

CONTACTS: BANKING GROUP

COMMERCIAL BRANCH

UNIT NAME OFFICE NO CELL NO EXTERNAL E-MAIL INTERNAL E-

MAIL

Cape TownSupt Louw

Capt Erasmus(021) 424 8900 083 850 9817

083 799 7706

COMMERCIALCRIME-

[email protected]

Cape Town

Commercial Crime

Unit

Bellville Supt Robertson (021) 918 3530 084 702 9210 [email protected]

Commercial Crime

OudtshoornCapt v/d

Westhuizen(044) 203 9113 084 688 3366 [email protected]

Oudtshoorn-

Commercial Crime


MAIL

Port Elizabeth Supt Rheeder (041) 408 2600 083 501 1309 [email protected]:PE

Commercial Crime

East London Supt Dyani (043) 743 8479 082 625 5534 [email protected] London

Commercial Crime

Bisho Dir Wolvaard (043) 704 6000 082 779 7169 none

Umtata Capt Palaza (047) 505 5131 083 749 1864 none

EASTERN CAPE

CAPE PROVINCE



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MAIL

KimberleyCapt Oelofse

Cst Morewakgotla

(053) 838 4416

(053) 838 4438

083 381 9771

083 528 [email protected]

Kimberley

Commercial Unit

NORTH CAPE

FREE STATE

KWA ZULU NATAL


MAIL

Bloemfontein Capt Verster (051) 503 2795 083 262 3941 [email protected] Commercial

Crime

WelkomCapt

Mathakhoe(057) 916 6500 083 361 0095 [email protected]

FS: Thabong

Commercial Branch


MAIL

Durban Supt Ntuli (031) 332 2534 082 435 3750 [email protected] Commercial

Crime Commander

PietermaritzburgSupt Olivier

Insp Gouws(033) 845 8534

082 773 0629


PMB-Commercial

Crime

GAUTENG

UNIT NAME OFFICE NO CELL NO EXTERNAL E-MAIL INTERNAL E-MAIL

JohannesburgSupt J Hyman

Supt Croucamp

(011) 870 5389

(011) 870 5395

082 900 7878


Jhb-Commercial

Crime

Germiston Capt Mokovhi (011) 201 9708 083 345 0160GP:East-Rand.Commercial-

[email protected]

GP:East-Rand :

Commercial Branch

Pretoria Supt Makuwa (012) 401 3362 082 822 6812 [email protected]:Pta: Commercial

Branch



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NORTH WEST


MAIL

Klerksdorp Supt Rossouw (018) 464 5360 082 856 0943 [email protected]

Commercial Crime

PotchefstroomCapt B Moodie

Insp Peens

(018) 299 7648

(018) 299 1649

082 773 1061

082 773 [email protected] Ngeke Mzu

Mafikeng Supt Motlhabedi (018) 397 0323 082 856 1589 [email protected]

Molopo

Commercial Crime

Unit

MPUMALANGA


MAIL

MiddelburgSupt Smit

Capt KZ Mohlala

(013) 249 1421

(013) 249 1416

082 565 6431


Middelburg

Commercial Crime

Nelspruit Supt NkosiInsp Malambe

(013) 752 1030(013) 752 1030

082 780 6414082 415 7598

[email protected] NelspruitCommercial Branch

LIMPOPO


MAIL

Polokwane

Supt Rakgoakgoa

Insp Moloto

Insp Naumann

(015) 293 7251

(015) 293 7277

(015) 293 7263

083 289 0649

082 397 9212

083 779 2407

[email protected]:Polokwane

Commercial Crime

HEAD OFFICE


MAIL

Head OfficeSr Supt JA van

Wyk(012) 393 1205 082 778 5629 [email protected]

Commercial

Banking Group

Head Office Supt Magobosha (012) 393 1206 082 778 2823 [email protected]

Banking Group

Head Office Capt(f) Schoeman (012) 393 1940 082 778 7613 [email protected] CommercialBanking Group

Issued by SABRIC

Contact: Gilbert Swats 011 847 3105


CGC Crime Prevention January 2007

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