Crime Prevention Units
While security officers and CCTV surveillance may act as a deterrent to criminal activity, it stands to reason that the smarter criminal is not going to ply his trade in full view of uniformed officers. This is where a specialist “Crime Prevention Unit” comes into its own.
One of the primary advantages of the Crime Prevention Unit is that they operate in plain clothes and are therefore not restricted by the same factors that impact on uniformed officers. Additionally CPU members, rather than being “security guards”, are of a higher calibre and are adept at managing covert crime prevention and intelligence gathering operations.
In the security world the axiom “Knowledge is Power” holds especially true. The unfortunate reality is that currently the balance of power tends to lie with the criminal element – they know more about an organisation’s security systems and strengths and weaknesses, than is known about them at any given time. The only way to swing this balance is through counter intelligence. To achieve this, the CPU concept was conceived. The first Justicia unit was deployed in the retail environment at Gateway Theatre of Shopping in Durban. This Exercise has been followed similar success in other major shopping centres around the country.
A crime prevention operation is a practical, measurable and manageable security intervention that offers centre management an innovative, cost effective and highly efficient solution to a growing threat.
