Locks and Security News: your weekly locks and security industry newsletter
24th April 2024 Issue no. 702
Your industry news - first
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Sticky fingers
Thieves could end up with sticky fingers after a security firm invents a cash box which fires exploding glue over the money when it is broken into.
G4S Cash Solutions has started using the boxes - which make the money inside unusable - in a pilot scheme in London.
There have been 167 cash-in-transit robberies in the city since April and last year there were 485 such robberies.
Existing cash boxes emitted a vivid dye over the money inside if they were broken open by robbers. Although the dye meant police could track down robbers it didn't stop criminals from using the damaged money in machines or laundering it in other ways.
The new system is said to make all the stolen cash "dead money" and therefore reduce the motive for such robberies.
Kevin O'Connor, Risk Director with G4S Cash Solutions (UK), said that extensive trials were taking place.
"Our tests show that the glue will ensure that an attack on a G4S cash box will be completely worthless to the perpetrator. Glue is the latest in a series of hi-tech solutions we have developed to reduce the number of attacks on our crew and vehicles."
If successful the new boxes could be used all over the UK.
Detective Chief Superintendent Graham McNulty, head of the Flying Squad, said: "I never want a crime to happen but we do want to see if it works."
Mr McNulty said they were hoping to cut cash-in-transit robberies to the levels of bank raids. Last year only 10 banks in London were robbed and in four of those cases the criminals went away empty-handed.
29th September 2010