04/12/2008 - Rise in security van robberies
Police have warned that security van robberies are on the rise as the economic slowdown takes hold.
The Metropolitan Police Service said despite a decline for the year as a whole, the number of "cash in transit" (CIT) robberies rose over the last three months. In September, 27 CIT offences were reported to the Met with this figure soaring to 45 in October and 53 in November.
Detective Superintendent Bob Cummings, from the Met's Flying Squad, said the force expected to see further rise in the run-up to Christmas. He was speaking at the launch of a crackdown on security van and commercial robberies in the festive season, called Operation Quizzer.
He said that with people having less money available to them, society ought to anticipate there may be a rise in crime. He added that there is a traditional rise around Christmas and said it was likely that the credit crunch will have an impact as well.
"Certainly in the last few months we have noticed these attacks are on the rise against a downward trend over the year," he said.
Copyright © Press Association 2008
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