Akin to other areas of London, the Square Mile is being targeted by phone snatch thieves, who use bicycles, mopeds, and electric scooters to target those who live in, work in, and visit the city.

Victims are typically approached from behind whilst they are texting, making a call or using map and taxi applications; the thieves either by mount the pavement or remain on the roadside. Whilst offending can appear opportunistic, thieves are very well organised; they will go to areas of high footfall and transportation hubs, wear dark clothing and face coverings, cover identifiable markings, and even disguise themselves as delivery riders.

There are, however, some precautions you can take:

• Be aware of your surroundings and stay alert.
• When you don’t need to use it, keep your phone out of sight, and consider using hands-free.
• When using your phone consider standing away from the roadside, perhaps near a building or wall, so that no one can come up behind you.
• Record your phone’s IMEI number by keying *#06# – this can then be provided to the police and your service provider in the event of a theft, and your phone can be blocked.
• Install a tracking app and better secure your phone with a password and biometric authentication, such as fingerprint, voice or facial recognition.
• If your phone is stolen or you witness a phone snatch, report it to the police ASAP – consider asking local businesses for assistance.

By taking these steps, you can reduce the risk of becoming a victim and keep yourself and your property safe.

The City of London Police is committed to tackling this issue and has launched Operation Niven. This force-wide initiative combines proactive activity such as high visibility and plain clothes patrols in hotspot areas, with prevention, by offering property marking, circulating awareness raising communications, and delivering security sector briefings. We hope that by taking an evidence-based approach and utilising different tactics, we can reduce offending and make the City a safer place.

Inspector Joe Easterbrook

City of London Police

www.cityoflondon.police.uk

The post Beware of the phone snatchers appeared first on City Security Magazine.

What is stalking?

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust (SLT) defines stalking as a pattern of unwanted and persistent behaviour that is motivated by a fixation or obsession that causes a victim to suffer alarm, distress or a fear of violence. The law states that it’s illegal for a person to pursue a course of conduct that they know or ought to know amounts to stalking. A course of conduct refers to two or more incidents of unwanted behaviour.

Stalking can involve a wide range of offences and behaviours, including persistent emails, non-stop phone calls, loitering, spying, threats, tracking, threatening suicide, upsetting letters, hacking email, or social media abuse.

The related CPS guidance on stalking states: “There is no such thing as a ‘typical’ stalking perpetrator or a ‘typical’ stalking victim. This crime disproportionately affects women and girls; however, it is important to recognise that men and boys may be victims too. Stalking affects people of all ages, and victims come from a wide range of backgrounds – stalking is not restricted to public figures and celebrities.

“We are also aware that people with a longstanding illness or disability are disproportionately likely to be victims of stalking.”

Stalking often makes a huge impact on the individuals being stalked. It can mean they have to change daily routines and make big changes in their lifestyle. Of course, this can have a serious impact on mental health and wellbeing.

Stalking is a crime in England and Wales under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in Scotland under the Criminal Justice and Licensing Act 2010, and is dealt with in Northern Ireland under the Protection from Harassment Order (NI) 1997.

Of the 1.5 million cases reported between April 2019 and March 2020, there were just 1,558 convictions for stalking (all offences).

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust campaigns to get more convictions of stalking and to improve the response of the agencies involved in supporting victims, like police, criminal justice and social services.

Working with the police

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust works with the police to help understanding of the complex nature of stalking and how it is often a pattern of behaviour that is hard to identify. The risks can be underplayed, and the SLT aims to help officers understand the forms it can take and the risks involved. The support and training also involve explaining and promoting the use of Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs).

These became available under the Stalking Protection Act in 2019 and enable early police intervention in a stalking case. They can be effective in helping to stop stalking or prevent it escalating.

Mental health and wellbeing training

The impact of stalking can be traumatic and often the effect on the individual can be comparable to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is therefore important that people who provide support to victims of stalking understand its impact and the best ways of offering support. The SLT provides training for those responsible for supporting victims of stalking.

Multi-agency stalking intervention

The SLT has piloted the multi-agency stalking intervention programme (Masip) across three sites in London, Cheshire and Hampshire. This was started in 2018 in response to the fact that 50% of those convicted of stalking re-offend. There is an obvious need to break this cycle. The SLT continues to manage the Stalking Threat Assessment Centre in London, where individuals are provided with a tailored package of interventions to help them cease this damaging and criminal behaviour.

How can security professionals help people being stalked?

Security officers and security teams can often be well placed to support those being stalked.  Below are some initial suggested steps to take to improve your response:

• Work with your HR team to understand any policies and procedures in place to support people being stalked. Then review any security practices to integrate with these procedures. If there are no policies in place, work with HR to develop them.
• Encourage people to let you know if they think they are being stalked and work out how the security team can keep the individual safe.
• Encourage those being stalked to seek support from a specialist stalking service such as the National Stalking Helpline (see contact details).
• If appropriate, carry out a security review for individuals who believe they are being
• stalked (looking at their physical security, their travel arrangements, their IT). Discuss any proposed enhanced security measures with the individual and a stalking specialist.

• Liaise with your IT team to ensure the individual is aware of good cyber security.See the related Suzy Lamplugh report Online Harms.
• Encourage the individual to keep a record of what is happening and keep records of any related incidents in security logs.
• Keep leaflets with advice and guidance available (for example, from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust) and share these where needed.
• Refer to the Guide for Employers to support victims of stalking; https://www.suzylamplugh.org/news/new-guide-for-employers-to-support-victims-of-stalking-soloprotect-uk

Are you being stalked?

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust categorises behaviour as stalking where four key elements are present: it is fixated (where someone is thinking about someone to an excessive degree), obsessive, unwanted, repeated.

For anyone who thinks they may being stalked, the SLT website offers an assessment tool: Am I being stalked? This easy-to-use-tool tool helps you carefully consider what is happening and what to do.

The National Stalking Helpline can provide practical help and advice. In summary, the key steps to follow are:

1. Cease all contact with the individual you think is stalking you
2. Report the stalking to the police at the earliest opportunity
3. Keep a record of all incidents (calls, emails, any contact)
4. Improve your digital and physical safety
5. Seek support from the National Stalking Helpline.

Contacting the National Stalking Helpline

The National Stalking Helpline is run by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, in partnership with Network for Surviving Stalking and Protection Against Stalking. The National Stalking Helpline is freephone, including free from most mobiles.

Calls to the Helpline are confidential

Freephone: 0808 802 0300

www.stalkinghelpline.org

advice@stalkinghelpline.org

Open 09:30 to 16:00 weekdays (except Wednesday 13:00 to 16:00)

The post Stalking – some practical advice and support from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust appeared first on City Security Magazine.

As plans for business travel resume, how do you keep safe, particularly from the threat of espionage?

Since the advent of globalisation, international business travel has been considered a necessity when conducting business across country borders. When tools such as video conferencing became more widely available during the 1990s, many believed international business travel would decline, but instead, until coronavirus hit globally in early 2020, the sector had continued to grow year on year to a peak of business tourism spending of $1.29 trillion in 2019.

Now, 18 months into a global pandemic, many are looking at plans for resuming business travel as more countries see reductions in their case numbers, more people become vaccinated and confidence grows in travel sector safety procedures. However, as well as the health and safety considerations of recommencing business travel, what are the important things to consider from a security viewpoint, and particularly from an espionage threat perspective?

International business travel: still necessary or desirable?

Within the travel sector, there has been considerable debate about the recovery of business traveller volumes and spend. For the airline industry, business travellers have historically accounted for 12% of the volume but up to 75% of profits, so the industry is keen to encourage the return of business travel to pre-pandemic levels.

However, for many organisations who have been permitted to travel under essential worker status, the complexity of international travel has posed significant challenges. Even as countries are now opening up their borders, the advice and requirements in place are complex, immensely varied and quick-changing. The rules around vaccination requirements, quarantine and self-isolation have already limited, and will continue to limit, business travel for some time to come until we emerge from this pandemic globally.

Alongside the practical considerations, many organisations are re-evaluating their business travel volumes from both environmental and Corporate Social Responsibility standpoints. Pre-2020, many companies, including PwC, Microsoft and Lloyds Banking Group, had committed to reducing or limiting their business travel emissions with the recognition that air travel contributed the most to carbon emissions. A study by O2 Business in June 2020 also showed that 48% of UK workers were concerned about the negative environmental impact of business travel , while investors are increasingly applying ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) criteria to company investment decisions. Certainly, all of these factors point to a continued downward trend in international business travel.

But what is the desire to return to international business travel among the workforce? Changes in working practices since early 2020 including greater levels of remote working, accepted flexible working policies helping to accommodate operating across time zones, and improved dependability and functionality of video conferencing software have all helped to facilitate more effective international communication and collaboration. But many miss face-to-face interaction, and it is widely accepted that meeting with colleagues, business partners, suppliers and clients in person serves to strengthen relationships. There are also many occasions when travelling to a country is still essential; some services simply cannot be delivered remotely.

Staying secure when travelling internationally

From a security perspective, international business travel has always presented risks. The transportation of organisational assets, both tangible and intangible, poses a risk of interception and theft and from an espionage threat perspective, an adversary is aware of the vulnerabilities of an unfamiliar location or situation where the usual home country security protocols cannot be followed or maintained. With the conditions of resumed business travel as we’ve already explored, any international business requirement is likely to be more critical and involve personnel handling more sensitive assets and conducting more sensitive conversations and the adversary will be very aware of this shift.

When advising organisations on safe international business travel, we advocate three key disciplines: briefing, discretion and being environment-aware.

Briefings

Being well briefed on how to keep assets secure and location-specific risks and factors are essential for any business traveller, especially so for any employees who had not received such training or advice pre-pandemic but equally for seasoned travellers who need risk updates.

Disseminating foreign travel advice from local government and gaining insight from corporate travel partners are one level of education, but many organisations are now going further to build and share their own local threat assessments cross-company.

Discretion

The mantra for any business traveller should always be discretion. It can be easy to become exposed or overly relaxed when abroad, and time-old espionage techniques such as honeypot traps continue today as the adversary preys on these vulnerabilities. The case in 2020 of a US defence linguist charged with sharing highly sensitive national defence information with a member of Lebanese Islamist militant group Hezbollah with whom she shared a romantic interest shows evidence of this risk . As well as being discreet at in-person events, the dangers of sharing information via social media and professional networks have been highlighted of late, and the US NCSC ‘The Nevernight Connection’ video showcases this perfectly.

Environment-aware

As well as specific country or city risk factors, the business traveller should maintain a heightened level of awareness around transport hubs, hotels and third-party venues where their usual organisational security protocols are not in place. The use of hotel safes, storage and hardware are best avoided, as is leaving any device or asset in a hotel room. Measures such as providing clean IT equipment can be advisable for locations and situations considered high risk.

A shift in security service resourcing?

For many security professionals, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented some challenges in respect of maintaining key security service delivery as their preferred or contracted suppliers have been unable to travel themselves. For some organisations, this has forced them to review their sourcing models and focus on more local solution providers for protective services to avoid future travel risk and disruption. However, for certain fields and specialisms, it can be difficult to find reputable providers and apply the same best-practice sourcing criteria across countries.

TSCM, for example, is a notoriously unregulated industry. It is important to find a provider that applies industry-leading standards and uses highly trained personnel and specialist equipment to give the same level of threat assurance across all operations and projects to ensure you are protected.

Emma Shaw

MD, Esoteric

www.esotericltd.com

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Nearly 1.5 million people in England and Wales are victims of stalking every year and during last year’s lockdowns, this increased by 40%. What can you do to regain control?

There was a time not so long ago when being watched would have been concerning, but nowadays we’ve become numb to it and almost worry if we’re not being watched.

For example, probably like me, you’ll have regular alerts and notifications that people are viewing your profile on social media like LinkedIn. Our lives have now embraced technology and extended our own boundaries of privacy, often welcoming complete strangers into parts of our personal world that we wouldn’t otherwise previously have done.

Privacy is an ambiguous term in these modern times. Our smartphones are in themselves the biggest perpetrator of leaking our private information and we can either knowingly or unknowingly permit this. However, we do have the option to withdraw these privileges. But the necessity to communicate with our friends and contacts, and promote our skills and business means that this is, excuse the pun, virtually impossible. And this form of communication and sharing is, in most cases, not generally a problem and can be positive and sometimes even gratifying. That is until it creates a negative and intrusive impact or force in our lives.

You may have had a negative response to something you’ve posted online, an opinion you may have held on a current issue. Depending on the individual, this can either affect them or not. You might shrug it off but others might feel personally affronted and upset. I recall in the early days of Twitter, I had celebrity clients who would call me, extremely upset, that they had received vicious, abusive, offensive or cruel comments and asked what could be done. My response was pretty much as it remains today, some some ten years later: to simply advise they either had to grow a thicker skin or just not use that platform. However, many need to use these platforms and to withdraw would isolate them from their fans.

But what happens when it is more than just trolling, and becomes a fixation on you? The difference is more than palpable. It can consume you so much it impacts on everything: your personal life, your work, your movements.

Stalking by definition is the act or a crime of engaging in a course of conduct directed at a person that serves no legitimate purpose and seriously alarms, annoys, or intimidates that person, or willfully and repeatedly following or harassing another person in circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to fear injury or death, especially because of express or implied threats.

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, almost one in five women over the age of 16 have experienced stalking, as well as almost one in ten men, so it would not be surprising if you or someone close to you has been or currently is a victim.

I’ve been a victim myself

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust has said nearly 1.5 million people in England and Wales are victims of stalking every year and during the last year, there was a 40% increase during the national lockdowns, with various support agencies and police finding that there was a surge in the first four weeks of the first lockdown in cyberstalking involving social media, messaging apps and emails. Where conventionally, stalkers would often only physically monitor, they now have 24 hours in the day, uninterrupted, to obsess over their victims.

Gaining Control

During my professional career I’ve dealt with many cases, from those involving people in the public eye through to everyday persons, and they have come in many different forms. Some suspects were known to the victim or had a relationship with them; some were complete strangers. If you find yourself the target of a stalker, there are many things you can do to regain control. Many of which apply to almost every type.

The first and one of the most important things to do is not to suffer alone. As hard as it might be talk to someone about it, you must. You’ll find it easier to deal with and will disrupt the insidious and secretive environment stalkers try to create between the two of you. I can’t count the number of times victims have come to me for support often only when they were at their wit’s end. Many haven’t reached out sooner in the belief that no one would believe or take them seriously.

The second thing that is absolutely critical: gathering evidence.

Again, many victims have contacted me after months of being stalked and have not collated a record of all the incidences whether there have been sightings, contact, calls, posts, social media comments and messages. The most upsetting is when they’ve deleted messages or voicemails. It is essential that you have all of this to demonstrate the ‘course of conduct’ that defines stalking in the law and equip the authorities to be able to act on it.

Start a journal, if you haven’t already, and keep records of times, dates, locations, screenshots, recordings and everything you can. This will help build the case and if already sufficient, be enough for the police to already go and knock on their door.

My next suggestion would be to create ‘safe spaces’. Many victims are filled with dread every time their phone rings or notifications appear on their phone or social media. This is a horrible way to live so I would recommend setting up duplicate environments you can safely go to where you can feel safe. These, for example, could be new email accounts, social media pages, and even telephone numbers, but make sure they are not with your genuine name, so easily searchable, and are private to you and only shared with your most trusted friends and contacts.

You don’t have to move your lifestyle whole-stock to these environments but they could be used as a temporary means of keeping in contact with friends, family and business contacts until you get the situation resolved.

Once you feel confident the situation is sorted, you can dispose of them if you choose. What it will give the victim is the ability to control and choose when they pick up and respond to calls or accounts that the stalker might be using and communicating through, when they’re feeling strong enough. They can even ask a friend to check first before they do.

Lastly, thankfully there are great support groups and resources now available that can provide good advice and help for virtually every type of case.

The police and Home Office are also beginning to take it more seriously, with the new Stalking Prevention Orders (SPOs) launched last year allowing the courts to act more quickly in protecting victims.

And very importantly, once you’ve reported it to the Police – keep all over them. Take the badge, contact number and email address for the officer who took your statement and pester if it’s not gaining traction. I appreciate our police forces are overwhelmed and under-resourced but they are obliged to investigate and pursue. Pester them if you feel you’re being neglected and it’s not being taken seriously.

Will Geddes

Managing Director / Founder

ICP Group

www.icpgroupcompanies.com

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The impact of domestic abuse is devastating and can affect any woman, no matter her background. The estimated cost  to business is at least £1.9 billion a year. Employers have a duty to respond and ensure that employees are supported in their workplace.

The scale of the problem

For an estimated 1.6 million women in the UK, there is no respite from the terror of domestic abuse. Almost one in three women will suffer from domestic abuse in their lifetime and the consequences are devastating and far-reaching.

The scale of the problem is huge, and we all have a role to play in ending domestic abuse. On average, two women a week are killed by a partner or ex-partner in England and Wales. Few of us can imagine the agony of being abused by an intimate partner, coupled with the pressures of daily life and compounded by many women not knowing where to turn to for support.

All too often, domestic abuse is seen as happening ‘behind closed doors’ but domestic abuse is a social issue, it is everyone’s business. Domestic abuse can affect any woman, no matter what her background, age or social demographic and for many, it is a life-and- death situation.

The role of employers

Now, more than ever, it’s vital that the wider society and particularly employers are trained to spot signs of abusive behaviour and understand domestic abuse for what it is – a crime. Due to decreased productivity, time off work, lost wages and sick pay, a 2018 survey by Business in the Community estimated the cost of domestic abuse to business to be at least £1.9 billion a year. Abuse can be hugely destructive, and employers have a duty to respond to the risk of domestic abuse and ensure that employees are supported by their workplace to deal with the issue.

Providing the best support possible begins with recognising the signs of domestic abuse. Employees might not feel comfortable enough to raise the problem at work, but their colleagues can still be mindful to changes in their behaviour. Some signs include frequent days off, changes in working patterns, reduced quality of work and changes in a colleague’s behaviour or demeanour. You may recognise signs of physical harm, obsessive behaviour, or increased feelings of anxiety or isolation. Frequent workplace visits, endless emails or calls by a partner could also be an indicator of coercive control.

For others, the workplace can provide a safe place away from harm. Implementing a workplace policy or guidance on domestic abuse sends a clear message that an employer wants to help anyone experiencing abuse – and that domestic abuse will not be tolerated inside or outside the workplace by anyone perpetrating the issue.

By creating a supportive atmosphere in the workplace, employees are more likely to feel comfortable disclosing a problem. Awareness-raising posters, staff briefings and appointing a domestic abuse champion can be a positive step towards survivors’ accessing support. Refuge also believes that staff experiencing domestic abuse should be entitled to paid leave, alternative working patterns and alternative office locations if necessary.

It’s not easy to open a conversation with a survivor and recognise the signs of abuse. Many people living with domestic abuse will never feel comfortable disclosing it to their employer, as they may not even be ready to admit it to themselves. An employer’s role isn’t to deal with the abuse itself, but to foster an environment or training programme which enables people to talk openly about difficult issues, drive change to confront domestic abuse and signpost those affected to local and national support.

Respecting an employee’s boundaries and privacy is essential. The employee must know they are believed – they have the right to feel the way they do, they are not to blame and if they choose to, they have the right to report what is happening. Survivors need to understand they are not alone.

Coercive and controlling behaviour

Whilst domestic abuse is often physical, it can take many other forms of exerting control over another person. In 2015, coercive and controlling behaviour was recognised as a criminal offence in law. Coercive control is an insidious pattern of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation, which is used to isolate, exploit, punish and frighten victims.

The impact of non-physical and emotional abuse can be equally as devastating as physical violence. Other methods perpetrators use to abuse and control include sexual violence, stalking and economic abuse, which can leave victims without access to their own bank accounts, with no independent income and with debts that abusive partners have set against their names.

Tech Abuse

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in tech abuse, and the use of technology as a weapon to control, harass and stalk women. Abusers can gain access to women’s personal and home devices, their online accounts and even children’s toys and devices. This form of abuse can also include threats to share intimate images and so-called ‘revenge porn’.

The role of Refuge

There is help available, not just from employers but also from specialist organisations like Refuge and the National Domestic Abuse Helpline.

At Refuge, we support 6,500 women and children on any given day. As the country’s largest domestic abuse charity and provider of specialist support services, we are working to transform the response to domestic abuse. The issues survivors face are varied: from ensuring the specialist services they rely on are there when they need them, to being able to access safe housing away from their abusers, to providing emotional and practical support.

In November 2019 Refuge became the sole provider of the Freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline, which runs 365 days of the year. Our expert Helpline team handles more than 3,000 phone conversations a month. They are extensively trained to support women experiencing all forms of domestic abuse, providing essential safety information and emotional and practical support. Callers can also receive support from our recently launched online platform which also hosts a chatbot, providing real-time tech abuse information to survivors.

Refuge wants all women to know that they are not alone, and we are here 24/7 to support them. Survivors can call the 24-hour Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk

The post Domestic Abuse – Everyone’s Business appeared first on City Security Magazine.

Security staff are often the first responders when someone is attempting to take their life, so ensuring they have the capability to react appropriately is vital.

This case study from the City of London Corporation’s Business Healthy shows how joint suicide prevention efforts can come together to ensure everyone knows how to help those needing support.

Every mind matters

If you’ve turned on a TV, switched on the radio or opened a newspaper over the last couple of months, the likelihood is that you would have seen the national “Every Mind Matters” mental health campaign, or at least some reference to awareness-raising around mental health and the power of talking.

Poor mental health is widespread, and suicide – the most severe manifestation of mental ill-health – is an issue that is not going away. According to the latest statistics from Samaritans, in 2018 deaths by suicide in the UK rose by 11.8%. Men are three times as likely to die by suicide than women and men who are less well-off are up to ten times more likely to die by suicide than their more well-off peers. The highest suicide rate is among men aged 45-49 and the rate among this group is increasing.

While the causes that lead someone to take or attempt to take their own life are many and complex, suicide can be preventable. While preventing poor mental health in the first place is ideal, supporting people who are struggling with their mental health as early as possible is the best way to ensuring that they can thrive despite living with a mental health condition. It can also ensure that their mental wellbeing does not deteriorate to the point where they feel that ending their life is the only option.

Identifying someone at crisis point

In the Square Mile, most people who die by suicide or who make an attempt on their life are neither residents nor workers – they are visitors with no previous connection to local mental health or emergency services. It is for this reason that the City of London Corporation’s efforts to tackle suicide locally include a focus on helping members of the public identify when someone – for example a stranger – is at crisis point and giving them the tools to know what to do in this situation.

Collaborative working is crucial. The City of London Corporation and City of London Police jointly lead local suicide prevention efforts, working in partnership with key stakeholders including the RNLI, mental health professionals, Samaritans, Transport for London and the local business community.

Security staff as first responders

The large security workforce is the City’s “eyes and ears” and working with the City of London Police, provides round-the-clock patrolling of the locale. It’s likely that security staff will be some of the first responders in a situation where someone is attempting to take their life, so ensuring they have the capability, knowledge and tools to react appropriately and accordingly – while also safeguarding themselves – is vital. For example, the City Police and East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) deliver the overnight “Street Triage”, where someone in crisis can be provided with on-the-spot care.

Providing specific training to security staff on how to identify and help someone who is at crisis point is a good place to start. Someone finding themselves in this type of situation can find it incredibly stressful and it can take its toll, so being able to signpost staff to support for their own mental health is also important.

Don’t suffer in silence

Awareness-raising and general training on mental health for staff can be beneficial to their professional lives, as well as to themselves, their friends, families and colleagues. As with other male-majority industries, “macho” attitudes to mental and physical health can often prevail within the security industry; the stigma surrounding mental health and suicide means that men suffer in silence, exacerbating the issue and creating a vicious cycle.

Construction is another male-dominated industry that has been experiencing very high levels of suicide and pioneering initiatives such as “Mates in Mind” have been helping to break down barriers, facilitating more open conversations and creating a safe space for workers. Revo, the retail consortium of companies which own and manage shopping centres in the UK, has recently published, in collaboration with Samaritans, a toolkit for professionals who own and manage retail places. www.revocommunity.org/campaigns/vulnerable-people-suicide-awareness-and-prevention-guidance

Increasing the mental health literacy of those working in the security industry can help employees better support each other, members of the public and clients.

Find out more

For people working in the City: there is a wide range of free services that can help with this, such as a free advice service (City Advice) and Dragon Café in the City – further information is available at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/releasethepressure

Businesses located in or employing workers in the City of London can also access free support through the City Corporation’s Business Healthy network – www.businesshealthy.org

For people working across the UK: If your business is located outside the City of London, you can get in touch with your local authority to see if there is any support available for workplace health.

Businesses located across London can access the Mayor of London’s Healthy Workplace Award – a free accreditation scheme on workplace wellbeing www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/health/london-healthy-workplace-award

The Mental Health at Work website is a directory of national resources on mental health in the workplace – www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk

Xenia Koumi

Public Health Specialist and Business Healthy lead at the City of London Corporation

www.businesshealthy.org

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The Eat, Pace, Plan campaign aims to share the message of drinking in a responsible way that reduces harm to individuals or those around them, and to influence behaviour, so those out drinking during the festive season look after themselves, their personal possessions and make the most of this time of year.

Every year, the emergency services are burdened with the fall-out of Christmas parties with free-flowing alcohol. This doesn’t need to be the case, as long as people eat, pace and plan. Eat, Pace, Plan is a festive campaign being run by the City of London Corporation, with support from the Mayor of London. It encourages Londoners to stay safe while they are out having fun this Christmas and to get home safe and well. Alcohol-related calls typically rise by about 50% on festive party nights and we want Londoners to have a good time, eat, drink and be merry, but avoid having to call an ambulance and take a trip to A&E. We want Londoners to think of three wise things: Eat, Pace and Plan.

Your help needed

To get the message out to your staff and networks,  all the information that you and your organisation need is in a handy little toolkit (1MB) making it simple to join our campaign.

The post Keeping Safe this Christmas appeared first on City Security Magazine.

IT Consultant Peter Moore was kidnapped in Iraq and held captive for 2.5 years. In the ten years since his release in 2009, he has reflected on how he survived, what led to him being kidnapped and pragmatic suggestions for others in a similar situation.

Choosing Baghdad as a place of work

The rollercoaster landing at Baghdad Airport in April 2007 was a big clue into how life there was going to be for Peter Moore.

Missiles were going off in the distance and a group of Iraqi prisoners were kneeling, with their hands tied behind their backs, just by the runway. At the time, he thought, “Maybe this is riskier than I thought.”

But his choice of location was more considered than it seems. Peter already had experience of working in challenging spots around the world, including long spells in Guyana and China. This posting, which he thought would be brief and beneficial to his career, was part of a permanent role.

However, his youth and naivety did play a part. He didn’t tell his parents his next job was in Baghdad – they only found out when he was kidnapped – and his friends told him he must be mad.

The security set-up

Any concerns Peter did have about travelling to a war zone were partially assuaged by the security arrangements put in place. He was told he would be assigned a four-man security team, who were ex-military and highly trained. Any travel would be in a low-profile armoured vehicle.

There had only been one incident in all the years the company had been there. Plus, his company provided him with full Kidnap and Ransom insurance.

As an IT programmer, he did not consider himself a valuable person to kidnap; he thought, “I am not a target, I am worthless, a nobody, no value.” Unfortunately, it turned out, this was not the case.

The kidnap

Peter’s day began in an unsettling way on the 29th May 2007: on the journey to his office, there was an unusually large number of police vehicles on the main road to the Red Zone where he worked. But he kept quiet, as dictated by the security protocols during journeys, something he was later to regret.

He arrived at the Ministry of Finance and began training a small group about an IT tool. An hour later, without warning, men dressed as police officers from the Ministry of the Interior barged into the room. One of them put a gun to his head and said, “Come on.”

On the way out, he realised his security team had also been taken: the first two who had been positioned outside his door and the other two from the car parked outside. They were downstairs surrounded by police officers. Peter asked, “What should I do?” and the team leader told him, “Do whatever they say.”

At this point, Peter still believed his security team would effect an escape, that their military training would enable them to overcome their kidnappers: “I never anticipated the security team getting abducted.” Unfortunately, this Hollywood-inspired version of events is not what transpired.

Peter was put in the back of a police vehicle, together with the security team leader. He had about $400 in his pocket and thought, “I’ve dealt with corrupt police before, $400 gets you out of anything, anywhere.” He pulled out the money and said “Dollar.” It was passed to the kidnapper in the front seat who threw it out of the window. Peter thought, “That’s not right! What the hell is going on?  He’s supposed to pull over and kick me out.”

The kidnappers took off his ID tags, then his shirt, trousers and boots and threw these out of the window too. Peter now understood, “This is an abduction.” The vehicle moved quickly with lights and sirens going. They were transferred to other vehicles and other buildings – with lots of moves in the first day. Then he was moved to the first house of his captivity, chained, handcuffed and his glasses removed.

Living in captivity

Indeed, for much of his captivity, Peter was chained to the wall, blindfolded and endured torture and arduous conditions. For the first six months, he was kept with members of his security team. “Everyone was under the impression we’d get out alive – I remember thinking in six months, dead or alive, this will be over.”

They were asked to do a number of videos, most of which seemed to go nowhere. But one particular one was shown on CNN and they were allowed to see it. The report said it was really unusual for foreigners to be taken; they would have been either killed or exchanged. The report also said that the UK and US had to release the prisoner named in two weeks or they were going to kill Peter and his fellow captees. “I thought, we are going to die. We are not going to get out.”

As it turned out, the exchange took much longer than six months to negotiate. Peter was held for 2 years, 7 months, 1 day – 946 days in total.

The release

Peter’s release was announced by the then Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, on the 29th December 2009. Peter was taken to the British embassy and from there flown back to the UK.

During the year following his release, Peter was debriefed by both British and American military. His security team were unfortunately killed and there is still an open murder investigation into their deaths.

Peter was assigned a naval psychologist. Although he was experiencing 10 to 20 flashbacks a minute, he wasn’t diagnosed with PTSD since it was not debilitating and he gradually improved. He still has occasional flashbacks, especially when alone, but on the whole has been able to put the experience behind him.

Peter has seen many experts who have helped him deal with his ordeal. For him, the key thing is “understanding the theories and models that have been developed. To me, being kidnapped and held hostage was this random mess. When you analyse it, there is a process with distinct phases. Had I known this at the time, it would have been obvious that when they captured us, they were not planning on killing. So, we needed to just sweat it out.”

Ten years on

Peter now uses his experience to help train military personnel in a programme known as Conduct After Capture. In fact, this makes a really positive impact on him – “It is the most helpful thing I’ve done”– not least because everyone is interested and needs to know this information. Plus, it has enabled him to work with experts who can explain the theories behind kidnap.

Peter is also using his experience to create a Virtual Reality training app – a hostage survival simulation. “You put the headset on and you can experience a kidnap – at each stage a menu is shown giving you options for what you can do next.” This could be useful training for anyone preparing to go into a hostile environment.

Outlook on life now

The experience completely changed Peter’s outlook on life. “I’ve worked out the minimum paid work I need to do to survive and only do that. I travel a lot. I’ve taken a motor cycle trip around North America and have planned trips on a Royal Enfield around India and South America.”

Surviving captivity

Peter’s background of working overseas held him in good stead: “I was used to living with no air conditioning, having blackouts with no electricity or running water. I was used to being in a room and people speaking foreign languages around me.” Additionally, his IT background and logical approach to solving problems helped him survive his ordeal. He reasoned through his response and developed a number of tactics:

Building a rapport with your kidnappers

He decided the only way to get what he needed, like getting out of his chains, blindfold and handcuffs was to build a rapport with the kidnappers. “I couldn’t stay like this for an unknown amount of time.”

He says, “Just because you ask them about their lifestyle, why they are involved with this situation, it doesn’t mean you agree with them, you are just gaining an understanding.”

At one point in his captivity, there was only one TV in the building, so Peter was in the same room as his guards. They all spoke some English words and Peter had some Arabic words and plenty of time for long conversations: “What might take 30 seconds to describe normally, like how are houses built here or how do you get a driving licence, would take hours. Guards get bored as well.”

He was moved around to different houses with different guards. It turns out communications between the groups wasn’t too good and he could exploit this.

For example, when senior people came in, he’d say, “The Americans are not keeping your people like this.” They’d agree and make some concessions. Then, when he moved elsewhere with new guards, he’d ask, “Why you putting the blindfold on – they didn’t at the last place.”

Ultimately it worked: in his final year, he was not in chains, or handcuffs or blindfolds.

Telling the truth

Peter’s fellow captees did not tell the truth about themselves, possibly part of their previous military training. They lied about previous jobs and their family situations. As time went on, it became more and more difficult to maintain the level of detail and accuracy required.

Following the example of his security team, Peter lied about having a wife to encourage his kidnappers to have more concern for him than they would a single man. He knew it would be difficult to imagine someone from scratch, so he envisioned a friend from Guyana and created a whole story about their life together. “Two years down the line, it gave me a bit of a focus – I would tell different bits about our fictitious life together to different Iraqis.”

But beyond that, he told the truth about everything. His approach is “Tell the truth –absolute truth – you have nothing to lose.”

Keeping your mind active

Peter knew it was important to keep his mind active. He tried to solve many problems by thinking them through. He’d plan an escape, or a rescue, think about how he would behave (lie down and put your hands out – your rescuers won’t know who you are). He also practiced interviews, negotiated buying a motor bike, made shapes by looking at the fabric on the curtains.

Do not keep a calendar

At first, he did draw out a calendar and ticked off dates. But ultimately, “It was not helpful – the most depressing thing going, when you go month after month, year after year. You don’t want that – it is traumatic.”

Don’t get attached to things

At one point, Peter started collecting bits of fluff and building them into a ball. After six months or so, he had a huge ball! He was impressed. Then one day, the guards became suspicious and thought he’d hidden something in it. So, they broke it up and threw it away, causing him great upset.

He also used to have conversations with his pillow and got very traumatised when he lost that. So, he decided not to get attached to anything in the future. “Every couple of months  I asked them to get me new clothes and pillow, so I didn’t get attached to them.”

Lessons learnt for security

Peter has also had time to reflect on the lessons that can be learnt about his security set up in Baghdad:

Complacency

A significant problem was that the approach to security had become routine and complacency had set in.

Security is everyone’s concern

When Peter had his concerns on his journey to work, his thoughts were “if my security team think it is ok, then it’s fine”. There were unhelpful distinctions between the roles of Principal, Client and the Security Team, with the underlying message: Don’t listen to the Principal, the Client is paying and the Security Team are in charge of security. It is important to empower everyone to have a role in security. The key thing is, if you have a concern – say it!

Trust your instincts

When Peter saw the excessive number of police vehicles in the road on his way to work he thought, “there’s something wrong here”. He’s since learned the military saying that sums it up really well, “the presence of the abnormal, absence of the normal,” and says, “if it’s wrong – it’s wrong”. He and his security team could have turned around and discussed whether to go on or not.

Practise and check using radio and other security equipment

When the security team in the car outside saw the police storming the building, they tried to radio Peter upstairs in the training room.

Unfortunately, Peter’s radio was in his bag, switched off and on the wrong channel anyway. They had tried the security team outside the training room – but their radio battery was dead too. Clearly, it is imperative to make sure your equipment is working, charged, accessible and you know how to use it.

Technology set up

There was a panic button system in place – with a button in the car linking to the Green Zone five miles away. This triggered a call to the security team but by then the kidnap was in progress. There are now more technological solutions available to protect against kidnap. It is critical that these are set up in the most effective way.

Training

Survival training and general security training would have helped a lot. “Clients and Principals go on training – but do the training teams?” Is there an assumption that a military background is all the training that is needed?

Politically sensitive work – treading on toes

Peter will never know why he was selected for kidnap. But he believes some of the work he carried out in the weeks beforehand might provide an insight. He had installed some tracking software on the payroll system in the Ministry of Finance. This would enable them to spot any duplicates and highlight those corruptly claiming more than one salary. In doing this, he may have inadvertently incensed corrupt officials, which in turn made him a target.

It is important to understand the impact of our role, the implications of this and consider any possible negative outcomes.

Being prepared for kidnap

Looking back, Peter thinks if he had been wearing body armour and a functioning radio, he may have resisted the abduction. “I could have just sat on the floor. It would have been very difficult to shoot me there and then.” But this is easy to say with hindsight. At that point, he truly believed his security team would save him and that it was impossible for them to be abducted too.

His question for you: “Do you really believe it’s possible for you or your security team to be kidnapped?”

If not, perhaps you should think again and make sure you have put the right preparations in place.

Andrea Berkoff

Editor

City Security magazine

The post Peter Moore: kidnap victim on lessons learnt for security appeared first on City Security Magazine.

As part of our role, many of us are required to travel, sometimes to dangerous locations. Even the most seasoned of business travellers can become complacent and forget basic travel safety advice. Here we provide some reminders on simple precautions to take to keep safe on business travel, especially to hostile environments.

Occasionally, companies or organisations will require staff to travel on their behalf, potentially to a hostile environment. This could be a politically unstable country on the brink of revolution or civil war or a part of a country prone to lawlessness. Add radicalisation and terrorism to the mix and the dangers become all too clear. In recent years, close European countries, like France and Spain, which have always been considered safe, have been the subject of terrorist attacks and demonstration. And, of course, parts of any western city can be as unfriendly an environment as any so-called danger zone. Limiting the risks while travelling for business, or indeed any reason, is plain common sense.

Be prepared

The first rule is to know your destination. Prepare as much as possible by researching the location to which you are going.

Talk to colleagues who have first-hand experience to share. Check the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website for the latest travel advice, especially if the country to be visited is politically volatile or if there is a known risk of terrorist activity.

The FCO encourages British travellers to access current, country-specific travel advice by subscribing to its free email alert service or by following the FCO on social media via Twitter or Facebook. British Embassies and High Commissions also have their own websites and may have individual social media feeds or consular networks.

Checking your travel documents

Points such as ensuring that passports are up to date and visas are in order are obvious prerequisites, as are completing courses of pre-trip medical immunisations and ensuring that you have comprehensive travel insurance cover and access to funds in an emergency.

It is always wise to take some back-up funds in the forms of travellers’ cheques, sterling or US dollars.

Remember that certain countries require passports to be valid for six months following the date of travel. Take copies of important travel documents and store them online using a secure data storage site. If you will be driving while overseas, double check that your driving licence is current and valid for the country in question. Because bank accounts and credit card usage – corporate and personal – are monitored constantly for unusual activity, travellers should always advise banks and credit card companies before going abroad and check that the cards themselves are not due to expire during the trip.

Careful packing

Keep your valuables in your hand luggage and keep your documents and money separate.

Keep all displayed information such as that on name tags to the bare minimum. Be discreet: carry luggage that’s plain and inexpensive, avoid wearing jewellery and dress down as much as possible. Travel light if you can. You can then move more quickly without the encumbrance of heavy luggage.

On arrival

Be prepared from the moment you arrive. Be vigilant about who is around you. Keep alert and avoid using your mobile devices until you are safely inside an office or your hotel room.

Double check the identity and credentials of everyone you encounter, beginning at the airport where you need full details of the cab company, the driver (with photo if possible) and the car waiting for you. Vary your routes, routines, timings and movements.

Do not discuss your business or travel plans in public areas where you could be overheard. Limit discussing your travel plans and movements to people you trust.

When driving

Keep doors locked and windows closed, especially in areas containing traffic lights, stop signs or speed bumps.

If approached while stationary, drive away quickly. If followed or harassed, head for the nearest police station or hotel. Note the licence plate number of the car. If travelling alone when a car rams you, don’t stop to exchange accident information. Go to the nearest service station or other public place to call the police. Always be wary of strangers offering assistance. Look for parking places with good visibility and leave ample space between yours and the vehicle in front.

Using taxis

Use only registered taxis and avoid hailing one in the street: where possible, pre-book a taxi from the hotel, on the principle that you choose the taxi rather than letting the taxi choose you. Keep enough cash for a cab, as well as the hotel’s business card.

If caught up in a terrorist incident abroad

Counter Terrorism Policing (CT Policing) – in association with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Home Office and ABTA – have a produced a four-minute ‘Run, Hide, Tell International’ film on how to keep safe should the worst happen. Although targeted at holidaymakers, it provides essential guidance to any of us caught up in a terrorist incident abroad.

You can find further details and view the film at www.gov.uk/government/news/stay-safe-abroad-this-summer

For further information and advice about travelling abroad, together with contact details for all British diplomatic posts overseas, go to: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice‎.

The information in this article is taken from the City of London Crime Prevention Association booklet on Travel Safety. For more information visit www.cityoflondoncpa.org.uk

Andrea Berkoff

See also:

citizenAID® app – advice if involved in a terrorist attack

Hotel security: how safe are hotels?

Business travel: a security risk to personnel

Business travel security: risks for women

The post How to keep safe on your business travels appeared first on City Security Magazine.

Help is at hand, or rather in your hand as a smartphone app or paper pocket guide. The citizenAID® system has been developed by clinicians from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, drawing on their extensive experience of treating the seriously injured from combat operations over the last 20 years. citizenAID® draws together public safety advice, including the police “Run-Hide-Tell” messaging, with context-specific first aid advice to keep the seriously injured alive while waiting for assistance. The citizenAID®app with advice for those involved in a terrorist attack is free to download.

If you were caught up in a terrorist attack, would you know what to do?

The current threat from international terrorism, in the UK, is set as severe. Since the 7/7 London bombings in 2005 we have seen an increase in the number of attacks and a diversity of the types, specifically targeting civilians in marauding or vehicle-based attacks.

Immediately following an attack, it can take time before the scene can be made safe for the emergency services to reach victims. In the past, a hostage or victims’ location was referred to as the “hot zone”. “Victim nests” is now a more accurate description that recognises the rolling carpet approach to extrication, whereby police and firearms officers clear a zone, followed by the inundation of emergency responders to undertake ‘triage’ (from the French meaning ‘to sort’) into priorities for care and provide immediate, often life-saving, treatment.

Reaching the casualties and providing treatment can and will take time for the professionals, but time is not what a victim has if they have a major bleed. Stopping bleeding is crucial during the “platinum 10 minutes”. It is estimated that almost a third of all trauma deaths are preventable with timely treatment. But the only people who can act to make a difference are those who are present at the point of injury. This is why the public need to know what to do. Simple knowledge and skills training can, literally, save lives. citizenAID® provides this advice for those involved in a terrorist attack.

Step by Step Guide for those involved in a terrorist attack

Preparation improves performance. citizenAID® guides you to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. If you find an unattended or suspicious package you are told what to do. While “Run-Hide-Tell” applies to immediate actions in an active shooting or knife attack situation, “Control then ACT” (Assess-Communicate-Triage) are the immediate actions following an explosion or vehicle attack.

Advice on what to communicate to the emergency services is given in the SLIDE mnemonic (Situation, Location, Injured Numbers, Dangers, Emergency Services) and advice on what to say to the paramedics when they arrive is in the MIST mnemonic (Mechanism, Injuries found, Signs & Symptoms, Treatment given). Treatment focuses on simple, key skills that will save life and emphasises that if you don’t have any equipment it is OK to improvise. The charity has designed its own low-cost device (the Tourni-Key™) that can convert a tie, a scarf or a triangular bandage into a life-saving tourniquet for limb bleeding that cannot be controlled by pressure.

UK and beyond

citizenAID® was founded in 2016 and received independent charitable status in December 2017. It has been supported by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, emergency services, Royal Colleges and the British Medical Association. citizenAID® has grown support across the UK and worldwide; it is already firmly established in the USA, with wide European interest and development in progress.

Award winning

In 2017 the app received an “Innovation Award” from the Academic Health Science Network. citizenAID® was named the national “Counter Terror Project Award” winner in 2018, and the primary school book Moggy’s Coming received the “Most Innovative Product of the Year” award at the 2018 Business Continuity Awards.

Children

Moggy’s Coming is a cartoon storybook of a cat loose in a school of mice. It introduces the “Run, Hide, Tell” (and a degree of supervised “Treat”) message to young schoolchildren (Key Stage 1). But it is an allegory. It doesn’t talk about terrorism. It allows understanding of the broader principles of what children can do in the unlikely event that someone tries to hurt them.

For older primary school children (Key Stage 2), there is the Lion on the Loose cartoon series, which uses a picture sequence to prompt discussion. These materials are currently being introduced to schools in Scotland. For the secondary school children, citizenAID® has produced materials for the national STEM initiative (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) that describe the science behind stopping bleeding and the technology of a tourniquet.

Where can I find out more?

The citizenAID® website www.citizenaid.org has news and videos that can help you better understand the system. The app can be downloaded free through Google Play and the App Store. The Tourni-Key™, Moggy’s Coming book and the paper pocket guide can all be purchased from the charity’s online shop.

Where can I get training?

Public events have been running across the UK. We are currently planning a student event in Birmingham and a further one in Scotland. There is an accredited 3-hour course available through Qualsafe providers. Free training materials are available to registered volunteer instructors and our Ambassadors.

For more information or to get involved with the campaign contact info@citizenaid.org

We look forward to hearing from you!

Aurélie Hay-David Trauma & Orthopaedic Registrar, West of Scotland, and

Capt Jonathan Herron, Medical Officer, 3 Medical Regiment.

citizenAID® Ambassadors

See also:

Advice for Employees caught in in a terrorist attack

Tracking Apps – saving life or limb

The post citizenAID® app – advice if involved in a terrorist attack appeared first on City Security Magazine.