G4S supports Operation Quizzer

G4S Cash Services ('UK') ('G4S') is supporting the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad in its Christmas crackdown on commercial robberies over the festive period.

The leading provider of cash solutions today announced that it will be providing the force with ten SmartWater ultraviolet torches to help track commercial robbery offenders as part of Operation Quizzer.

G4S has supplied the ultraviolet torches to uniformed Territorial Support Group (TSG) officers to use on routine patrols in order to identify potential offenders marked with SmartWater, a hi-tech invisible liquid. SmartWater, which was introduced to all G4S cashboxes in London in October last year, works by spraying criminals with a DNA-style code, which cannot be seen by the naked eye but stays on the offender for up to six months.

Operation Quizzer1 includes a package of activity undertaken by the Metropolitan Police designed to deter opportunistic criminals hoping to 'cash in' through commercial robberies such as cash-in-transit (CIT) crime over the festive period.

Hugh Gilmour, Risk Director - South, G4S Cash Services (UK) said: "We are pleased to be able to support the Met Police on this operation and are grateful for all the support that the force has provided to the cash-in-transit industry.

Attacks against couriers working in our industry remain a major concern. This is just one of a number of measures we are taking in association with police forces across the country and other key stakeholders such as the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), the GMB Union, banks and retailers to reduce the number and severity of attacks against cash-in-transit staff."

SmartWater technology is being used by G4S as part of the drive to stamp out these often violent crimes. Criminals who break into a G4S cashbox are contaminated by SmartWater, enabling the police to directly link an offender to a specific attack, providing them with robust and irrefutable forensic evidence.

This summer Ali Lwanga, 21, of East London became the first cash-in-transit criminal convicted through forensic evidence using SmartWater. The 'Fagin-style' robber used a team of youths to carry out robberies across East London.

Research(2) released earlier this year by leading criminologist Martin Gill revealed that SmartWater is more effective in deterring experienced criminals than security guards, burglar alarms, ink-dye tags and CCTV.

The CIT industry is vital to the economic liquidity of the UK where cash remains the consumer's preferred method of payment. Each year the cash-in-transit industry transports around £500 billion, equivalent to £1.4 billion per day, by around 8,000 couriers using a fleet of some 4,000 vehicles