Securicor to tackle raids with new measures

THE security company at the centre of this week’s tiger kidnapping yesterday announced a new measure to protect staff and combat raids.

Securicor said that staff directly involved in last Monday’s robbery followed company procedures and that criticism to the contrary was mistaken.

Securicor employee Bernard Hogan was kidnapped at his home in west Dublin on Sunday night and driven to Carlow the following morning and told to persuade security van staff to hand over cash to ensure the safety of his wife, Ailish, who was held hostage.

Managing director at Securicor, Bernard Smith, yesterday said there had been some “misreporting” of Monday’s incident, but said he would not correct this as it would compromise security information.

He said their key concern was the safety of staff.

“This is a factor that is often overlooked. The reality is that ordinary, decent people are being subjected to extreme terror. This is totally reprehensible and we condemn it outright.”

Mr Hogan said that while they did not reveal security changes they were publicising one new measure for the protection of staff. He said the vehicle locker opening process would now be controlled remotely.

“This means that the crew on the vehicle can only access cash in the truck when it is opened remotely. The location of the vehicle is also verified by the GPS satellite tracking system before remote opening can take place.”

Justice Minister Michael McDowell welcomed the new measure, but said there were other measures, such as automatic dying systems, GPS location on boxes and vehicles, that needed to be introduced urgently.

He said he was awaiting a report from Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy in order to decide whether or not he needed to bring in legislation obliging banks and security companies to comply with standards.

He said the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority could be brought in to licence banks, similar to the role of the Private Security Authority in relation to security companies.