Author Archives: Edward Mills

About Edward Mills

Edward is Marketing Manager at ABM, specifically responsible for the key sectors that ABM serves, including UK policing, international policing and investigation management software.

Fake viagra dealer fined £14m

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Southwark Crown Court has ordered a man who sold counterfeit medicines online to pay £14.4m in fines. As reported by the BBC, the man, who lived in Manchester, was sentenced to two years in jail after a six-year investigation by the Medicines and Heathcare products Regulatory Agency (MRHA) and the North West Regional Asset Recovery Team revealed the scale of his operation, funding a lavish lifestyle involving luxury cars and houses.

Such stories demonstate the huge scale of counterfeit pharmaceutical operations. There is no control over the safety of counterfeit pharmaceuticals which means that many people are putting their health at risk by buying the fake and/or unlicensed items. This recent successful prosecution illustrates how various agencies are working hard to combat the problem but law enforcement freely admits that as soon as one rogue pharmacy is dismantled, another one appears somewhere else.

Convergence of Corporate Security

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A key message to come out of the ASIS European Security Conference in London last week was the need for convergence. It is becoming increasingly apparent within the world of security that security can no longer be compartmentalised. If organisations are really going to make an impact on the preventing crime, security needs to work in collaboration with all areas of the business. HR, finance, legal, business continuity, supply chain, IT, facilities, etc. need to converge with security to ensure a comprehensive approach to security management.

Investigative case management software can be a valuable tool in security convergence. A single system that can be accessed and used by multiple departments improves the sharing and management of information. Personnel in one geographical area, for example, can record incidents or intelligence for the security team, which may be located in another location, to respond to. All departments can see the progress that has been made and common standards and processes can be introduced across the organisation.

Communication is key to security convergence, and software like Intellicase can be an excellent facilitator for improved communication.

Abandoned California sexual abuse case highlights dangers of confidential informant mismanagement

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A former Seaside Police Department officer has just been acquitted of 33 charges relating to his alleged sexual abuse of six women while in uniform. The ex-officer, who was fired last year after an internal investigation, initially lied about meeting one of the women because he ignored police department advice not to meet informants alone. After one of the confidential informants made her complaint against the officer, he was arrested – another five women also made similar complaints.

The case highlights two important aspects of police procedure. Firstly, policies and procedures need to be firmly implemented to ensure that officers do not make unauthorised or unaccountable contact with confidential informants. Secondly, confidential complaints by citizens need to be carefully stored to prevent officers’ free access to information that may include allegations against them.

Fraud costs UK £73 billion every year

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The National Fraud Authority has issued its latest fraud report, estimating that the total annual cost of fraud to the UK at £73 billion. Changes to the NFA’s methodology mean that their estimate of UK fraud has almost doubled from their 2011 estimate of £38bn.

Fraud in the private sector accounts for the majority of UK fraud at £45.5bn, while fraud in the public sector costs £20.3bn.

Due to the enormous figures involved, even a small dent fraud losses could save UK organisations significant sums of money. UK organisations – public and private sector – need to consider how they are currently tackling fraud and what can be done to improve their investigation and enforcement processes.

Download the National Fraud Authority’s Annual Fraud Indicator.

Managing the Risk of Juvenile Confidential Informants

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The Miami Times recently ran a three part feature on the dangers of law enforcement using teenagers or young people as confidential informants (CIs). The article focuses on the case of Bosco Enriquez who moved from Nicaragua to Miami with his family when he was four years old. Unfortunately at the age of 13 Enriquez got involved with the notorious International Posse gang. In 1996, at the age of 15, his family’s house was raided by police and he was charged with aggravated battery. Enriquez then started working with police as a confidential informant, helping to bust as many as 30 gang members for drugs offences.

In the article, Enriquez explains his experience of conducting a controlled drug buy to incriminate a fellow gang member: “I was terrified. This was a violent guy and I was a 15-year-old kid.” Enriquez says that his involvement as a confidential informant led him to start taking drugs himself. He also claims that, after helping law enforcement, the police abandoned him. He was beaten and raped by other prisoners whilst in police custody and then deported to Nicaragua for a minor drugs charge where he remains to this day.

The article goes on to state that in 1997, Enriquez’s handler revealed his name in a deposition, stating, “His horror story is emblematic of a bigger problem that lawmakers in Florida and across the nation have only recently begun to recognize: Cops employ confidential informants — sometimes very young ones — to bust criminals. But there’s little oversight, and the result of police carelessness can be horrific.”

The Miami New Times cites two examples of young confidential informants who were killed in separate incidents whilst working for law enforcement – 23-year-old Rachel Hoffman and 17-year-old Chad McDonald.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of these cases, it is clear that the use of young confidential informants carries a high degree of risk. And, whilst the use of young informants may not be desirable, sometimes it is a necessary tool in the fight against organised crime. It is important, therefore, that juvenile CIs are managed properly.

Implementing effective strategies for risk assessment, governance, protection of identity and the management of financial transactions are crucial to protecting the human rights of young CIs. Informant management software, like abmpegasus, can help to ensure that all issues surrounding juvenile confidential informants are properly managed. The abmpegasus system, for example, includes a number of features specifically designed for dealing with juvenile CIs:

  • Review dates – ensure that young CIs are subjected to more frequent regular reviews
  • Escalated approval – ensure that the use of young CIs is authorised by a senior officer
  • Warnings – automatically alert handlers to the juvenile status of young informants

In addition to these areas, abmpegasus also provides comprehensive functionality to manage all aspects of any confidential informant, ensuring that operations are properly assessed for risk, appropriately authorised and carefully managed.

New software from ABM helps address undercover officer management

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An announcement today by ABM explains how our latest abmpegasus module addresses many of the issues highlighted by the HMIC in their recent report on the use of undercover techniques in UK policing. The new system, abmpegasus Undercover, provides various tools surrounding the authorisation, management and oversight of undercover assets to reduce the potential for mistakes to be made.

In the case of Mark Kennedy (the undercover officer involved in the case against environmental protesters at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station), there were various issues over the undercover officer’s management and subsequent disclosure of his involvement. abmpegasus Undercover includes functionality to prevent these issues. Go to www.abmsoftware.com/Products_abmpegasus_Undercover.html to read more.

Counterfeit cigarettes fuel national grid

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The fight against illicit tabacco products continues – The UK Borders Agency and HM Revenue & Customs officers have arrested two men on suspicion of smuggling 10 million cigarettes into the UK. The smuggled cigarettes, which arrived in the UK by cargo container from Dubai, had evaded around £1.8 million in duty.

The confiscated cigarettes will apparently be incinerated, providing power to the National Grid.

Retail shrinkage up 6.6% since last year

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The annual Global Retail Theft Barometer has found that shrinkage (shoplifting, employee fraud, organised crime etc.) has increased globally by 6.6% this year, totalling €88.878 million. In Europe, the increase in shrinkage has been even greater at 7.8% (representing 1.39% of retail sales).

Expenditure on loss prevention and security increased by 5.6% globally to €21m but the author of the report, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said that those retailers which achieved a reduction in shrinkage increased their loss prevention expenditure by twice this figure.

The report shows that, in these difficult economic times, retail theft is a growing problem. Retailers must think more creatively to overcome the challenges and maintain control over shrinkage.

Crimestoppers experiences 700% increase in calls following London riots

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Following the civil disturbances in London during August, Crimestoppers received over 2,500 actionable calls after CCTV images were released of various offenders. In conversation with the Head of Operations at Crimestoppers, I was pleased to hear that abmpegasus Information In Confidence played an important part in Crimestoppers’ activity during that period. The abmpegasus system was implemented at Crimestoppers to provide a more reliable and resilient system for securely managing confidential information. The riots could not have been predicted then, but the decision to upgrade their systems certainly paid off – despite a 700% increase in calls and 40% increase in users of the abmpegasus system, it continued to provide a reliable service, ensuring the security and confidentiality of information provided by members of the public.

Read more about how abmpegasus supported Crimestoppers during the riots.

Police Resilience in Spite of Cuts

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#suptconf11 – Police Resilience and Staffing Cuts… Two of the key issues at the core of discussions during the Police Superintendents’ Association conference this week.

During the opening session, Dr. Timothy Brain suggested that, “the sword of Damocles has fallen on police”. With a projected loss of 16,000 police officers and 18,000 staff, the budget cuts will certainly have a significant impact on UK policing. Such cuts will demand new approaches to the way that police resources and operations are managed. Despite the apparent concern, Derek Barnett, president of the PSAEW, was upbeat, emphasising throughout the conference that “change is upon us but change can be positive”. The changes will demand a more efficient, more intelligence-led, more proactive approach to policing that achieves more with less.

At ABM, we support the notion that change can be positive and are keen to work with our customers to work out ways of delivering police services in more efficient ways. We are listening now more than ever to the issues that are troubling police forces – from reduction in back office staff to concerns over the efficiency of intelligence operations. Through cooperation with technology developers like ABM, police forces really can deliver the results that the public depend on.