When 11 would-be cash-in-transit robbers were gunned down last week by police near Hammanskraal, it was the culmination of a joint strategy between business and police. Co-ordinated from the so-called joint operations centre (JOC) in Pretoria, police and business people worked side by side to collect information and plan the operation. It involved five different divisions of the police, from the elite special task force and air wing to the secretive "hi-tech centre".
That operation, and many other successful strikes against violent crime over the past few months, are the result of Operation Festive Season, a joint project between business and the police.
JOC - called "jock" by all those involved - looks like a haphazardly assembled set of desks and computers in an otherwise disused room. But it is the intelligence nerve centre of the operation - where business and police sit side by side to share information and analyse it. Representatives from various industry bodies, co-ordinated by Business Against Crime (BAC), are there full-time to ensure that information gathered from their industry intersects with the police's.
As a result of the strategy, the 2007 festive season is shaping up to be among the quietest in years in the cash-in-transit industry. The police's assistant commissioner, Mike Fryer, who chairs the joint operation, says that days go by without a single incident. Last December, 41 cash-in-transit incidents were recorded. As recently as October this year, between one and five heists happened every day.
"It's not just a business relationship anymore," says Fryer of the business representatives in JOC. "It's more friend-to-friend."
Fryer, a 34-year career policeman, says the relationship has developed over time. The first Operation Festive Season was four years ago, and was the first attempt by business to work actively with the police during the crime spree period.
"That first meeting people were uneasy," says Fryer. Initial attempts by business to interface with police were difficult. Police found business arrogant and pushy. Business found the police slow and bureaucratic. But four years later, the relationships have been solidified. "We've come a long way," says Fryer.
Business representatives the FM spoke to were particularly keen to emphasise that the police were in control of the operation. The political lessons have been learnt, though in private, business says it would take a slightly different approach. "Sometimes you get frustrated. We prioritise action over procedure," says one on the business side, but adds that the relationship has never been stronger.
Cash-in-transit companies and banks have also learnt to set aside their competitive instincts.
The industry bodies include the SA Petroleum Industry Association, which draws information from its petrol station forecourts; the SA Banking Risk Information Centre, representing banks and cash-in-transit; the Consumer Goods Council, representing retailers and the Shopping Centre Security Initiative representing shopping centres; the gaming industry body; and the SA Post Office. Those organisations have established their own intelligence mechanisms - such as training security guards to send an SMS whenever they see something suspicious.
All of the information which reaches the JOC is analysed. Police and business are cagey about how this is done, but clearly software is deployed to identify suspicious patterns that could indicate vehicles casing a potential target. Other intelligence reveals geographic and daytime patterns - knowing when and where criminals tend to hit their targets is crucial to how scarce resources are deployed.
"It's the first time we have co-located with the police in one control room," says Graham Wright, deputy CEO of BAC. He says business has focused on sharing and collecting information within industries. He cites the case of shopping centres - the only way to identify potential targets is to send information to the JOC on suspicious cars with other centres in the area. BAC has also convinced shopping centres to upgrade their CCTV cameras.
On the police side, the JOC can dispatch the air wing, task team or other police units. The metro police are also involved in the JOC and the SA National Defence Force can be called in for help, particularly for air support.
The emphasis, says Fryer, is on prevention. Police respond quickly when a suspicious action is noticed.
Crime statistics released recently show a 27% fall in cash-in-transit robberies in the six months to September compared with last year, a clear signal that the co-operation is working.
The BAC has also intervened in the judicial system to ensure those arrested do not get out easily on bail. "I will go to court to testify in aggravation of sentence," says Anton Wiid, an advocate and former policeman, who works with the BAC.
That intervention is credited by some for having brought down cash-in-transit robberies even more than the joint policing initiatives. "At one point 33% of robbers who had hit us were out on bail," says an executive at a major cash-in-transit company. "My personal view is that the biggest impact is that people are not getting bail."
But he adds that the police-BAC efforts have had a real impact. "December has been good so far," the executive says.
Operation Festive Season has been such a success that the police and the BAC are now planning to keep the JOC active beyond the scheduled end of the operation in February.
The stop-start relationship between business and police should then be over. "Business wants these operations to continue the whole year," says Fryer.
Though the cash-in-transit successes are evident, police statistics show significant increases in business and house robberies. "They are going for softer targets. It's one of the issues we have to address urgently," says Fryer.
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