The Keyholding Company launches the Safer Support Team
The Keyholding Company, the UK’s leading provider of Smart Security Services, announced the official launch of the Safer Support Team, a proactive patrol team and intelligence network, dedicated to helping prevent violent crimes on Bond Street and the surrounding area.
The program is funded, resourced and run by The Keyholding Company as a contribution to the community. During the pilot program, the Metropolitan Police Service, were able to identify and track would-be offenders, thanks to intelligence from this initiative.
Smash and Grabs, in which bike-mounted assailants ram into glass windows and doors to steal high value items before making a quick exit, are a problem in this area. A successful attack on a London jeweler seized £20,000 of goods earlier this year. While the number of assaults, both bike mounted and on-foot, has declined over the last 2 years, thanks to significant recent arrests by the Metropolitan Police, the value of goods taken has risen by more than a third indicating that increasingly sophisticated criminals are stealing to order. One on-foot robbery on a watch retailer collected nearly £400,000 of goods.
Charlie Gordon Lennox, CEO and Founder of The Keyholding Company explains:
“Businesses need to work alongside the Police in order to protect their staff, property and goods. The challenge they face is how to efficiently share information with each other and with the Met Police. The Safer Support Team is more than just a patrol team.
It enables the rapid sharing of relevant information in the community, be it real-time video footage, images, reports of suspicious activity or incidents.”
The Safer Support Team will be the eyes and ears on the ground, acting as a visual deterrent, gathering and sharing intelligence on suspicious behaviour and responding rapidly to reported incidents. The patrol team is Emergency First Aid trained, Fire trained and familiarised with police procedures to be able to respond appropriately when they arrive on site.
To facilitate the exchange of intelligence, The Keyholding Company sourced cutting-edge crime response technology. Verint, is a technology platform used globally by governments to combat crime. It is the first time such sophisticated technology has been used by the Metropolitan Police. So far the results have been positive.
Georgina Barnard of the Metropolitan Police Service says:
“The information we receive from the patrol team and the network through Verint has already led to arrests. The Safer Support Team is a great example of the Police working together with security companies to act more effectively against crime.”
Charlie Gordon Lennox adds:
“The Keyholding Company strongly believes in finding smarter solutions through technology and collaboration. The Safer Support Team is a perfect example of how we are able to make a real difference to the safety of retail staff in this high risk area by working together in an intelligent way.”
Inspector Colin Tanner of the Metropolitan Police Service responsible for local policing of Bond, Regent and Oxford Street, welcomes this initiative. He states:
“The West End is at the heart of London, one of the safest capital cities in the world. Effective partnership working is key and we are committed to further improving the way we work with the private security industry to build upon this success.”
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