Police likely to have better access to Firearms but what about Security Guards?

Kia Ora,

For those that are not aware the NZ Police are for all intent purposes unarmed.

It now appears with the huge increase in violent crime & weapons faced the police are going to be given greater access to firearms by having them in a lock box in all front line vehicles.

No mention of the NZ Security Industry but will get to that later.

Really they need to be wearing them so they have access to them at all times. When a situation escalates there is not time to get back to a vehicle to obtain weapons.

Either way there needs to be much greater resources put into training of those who are to use them.

Of course there have been the comments such as on one TV interview that this wil raise the bar so criminals will start using firearms.

News Flash the criminals already outgun the police here even if this policy is implimented. A large amount of crime in New Zealand now involves weapons. So much so that one Christchurch police officer was moved to comment sometime back that virtually everyone they arrest these days carries a knife at least.

We will end up with a situation like in L.A. I believe it was when with police out gunned & S.W.A.T. still on the way, a police officer was forced to use his own credit card at a near by gun shop, so those on the ground could at least match the criminals.
The Gun Owner's Handbook: A Complete Guide to Maintaining and Repairing Your Firearms--in the Field or at Your Workbench
So there is going to be an increase in the police ability to look after themselves.

So what of the NZ Security Industry?

Well the new Private Security Personnel & Private Investigators Act 2010 has been passed recently with little or no information to the industry.

There have been a few improvements from the Bill, but overall it is a step backwards 40 years, not forward. Or as I say better used as toilet paper.
Team Glock Back Pack - Glock TG42001, Firearm Accessories Cases
If it is dangerous enough for the police to now be looking at easier access to firearms & wearing bodyarmour then the NZ Security Industry should be pushing for the same for security guards. Bodyarmour minimum within a certain time period & firearms for a few firearms experienced operators.

But the NZ Security Industry will not say anything as it will cost them & they don't think it is that dangerous. In fact that has been the statement by people in influential positions mean they don't see what is actually happening on the street.
Crucial Elements of Police Firearms Training: Refine Your Firearms Skills, Training and Effectiveness
The industry used to be armed. With right background or experience with both the use & legalities required in the use of firearms there should be few issues.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

The Wheel goes round & round & round!

Kia Ora,

It seems in the time I have been writing these blogs the same subjects keep coming up here in New Zealand.

Over the last two nights it is back to arming the NZ polic again.

But it all comes back to having the resources & the training.

In previous posts I have talked about the mindset of the NZ Security Industry & the police not being ready for real security. It is not just about the training but the mindset which the NZ police would acquire if they were required to carry firearms at all times.

What I didn't realize though, until one of the reports highlighted it, was the total bureaucratic mess the police have to go through to arm themselves with the weapons they may have in the vehicle. It shows a mindset that hasn't faced the reality of the crime now on New Zealand streets.
In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection
It is only in the last few months that there has been a more general acceptance that more security need body amour. In the main though the NZ security industry refuses to see how it needs body armour or arming itself.

If the NZ Police are doing it or thinking of doing it then security should be doing it.

Why because it is often a security guard that arrive at these incidents prior to police alone. Then after an incident if someone is required it again is security that is called upon, usually again a lone guard.
Terrorism Financing and State Responses: A Comparative Perspective
Mean while here in NZ the wheel goes round & round & round!

This weekend it will be out of control drunks or another high speed police chase resulting in death where the police are blamed for an idiot running from them or another policeman facing an armed criminal without the ability to protect themselves.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Ground Hog day in New Zealand!

Kia Ora,

Anyone reading my blogs will see some common themes coming through again & again, but as the saying goes "Ground Hog Day."

Part of the reason for writing these blogs has been the frustration with the NZ Security Industry & its lack of dealing with security as it should be, not how it continues to be practised.
Marijuana: Its Effects on Mind & Body (The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Drugs)
Today in the Sunday-Star times was again the argument over marijuana. A recently retired police officer even saying police should be targetting the harder drugs.

Problem is this is generally where it starts.

Not only that in my experience it is the worst of the drugs. This view has been backed up to me by former drug addicts & one who describes himself as a marijuana addict.

It impacts on health, any psychiatric illnesses are likely to be highlighted based on experience as a security guard dealing with psychiatric patients, & probably most of all you see someone bright turn into someone slow witted & un motivated except for crime to buy their next joint.
Marijuana and Its Effects & Alcoholism in the Workplace & Coping with Hyperactive Children - What to Know / What to Do (Three Booklets for the Women's Christian Temperance Union WCTU - Lancaster County, PA)
In fact the Marijuana addict told me that he was given as much marijuana as possible by his dealers who then would get him to steal in return & at that stage his claim was he had never been caught.

But everytime the NZ police carryout a major raid or something goes wrong over an arrest involving Marijuana there is this outcry about over the top police reaction.

One person even claims that the police over reacted when he had a numerous number of plants growing at his place & firearms. The fact that he used firearms in his work is neither here or there.

He was breaking the law & firearms were found. The police only have to point at Napier as too where firearms & marijuana can lead.

They haven't destroyed his life. He did that himself.

But as they say 'Ground Hog Day' as the same arguments are trotted out.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Time to Clamp down on all Crime!

Kia Ora,

It is time to clamp down on all crime! For those not familiar with NZ our police force is basically unarmed. This morning a police dog has being gunned down & two police officers wounded.

A lot of small crimes happen before we generally get to this stage.

That is in part why the 0900 Suspicious service was conceived to allow that 95% of crime that is not allegedly reported to the police to be impacted on.



Now where the figures of unreported crime came from are up for debate, but what isn't is the fact most crime does go unreported.

Right from the start you impact on crime in an area when it is know that someone is taking notice of suspicious or minor criminal activity.

Without statistics the politicians will say that crime is OK. They need to get out on the streets more.

Whats worse is the after this is all over the police officers who have been shot are probably going to be investigated as that is what society does now. Ask these people to put their lives on the line then question every action they take.



As a society we have to stand up & start taking responsibility so we can get back to a society we are proud of.

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

How safe is it out there for Security Guards?

Kia Ora,

People hire a security guard but do they really think about the dangers they are putting them in.

Two incidents I witnessed Friday night highlighted just how close security guards sometimes come to real danger.



After completing a previously organized security task, it was back to being on standby for the new 0900 Suspicious service & whilst waiting again went out to see if I could gain any footage of criminal activity.

Took up a new position & in little over 40 minutes witnessed a number of criminal activities (two close to where guards were or appeared to be.)

The first involved a patrol in a vehicle roving around a premises. He had his lights on full & though that is not good security, with a big area it is often all the patrols are forced to do coupled with time constraints.

Only issue with lights on full was they didn't see the person at the edge of their lights dash into cover behind a container. Guard must of signed a book (in office on other side of the container) then left with lights going out & person was seen to move out onto a main road.



Twenty minutes later two persons whom I have seen before also trespassed across that private property.

Was preparing to leave when see in the other direction what appeared to be a security guard searching a property with his torch. Suddenly about 20 metres down & out of his line of sight, jumped over a fence a group of at least 3 people & who also trespassed on this other property.



Expecting the guard might of being answering an alarm, I moved to next side street to confirm before we could ring the police. But it transpired the 'guard' would of actually entered that property from next street over.

Meanwhile the new boy racer by law was in action & there was a noticeable change in tactics as well as a continuation of some old ones.



The two vehicles on the footage could be heard racing at an estimated speed of over 120kmh. The night before had seen a large number of vehicles come down that same road at speed then exit down a side road.

There was still a large number of burnouts, mainly in the line with a quick burn out then move to the next intersection & so on. Hard one to police unless someone can give a registration number.

Yet again there appeared to be shots. Problem is there were four 'reports' the first sounded like an air rifle, the next two were more explosive & the fourth had what in the military we called 'crack & thump' so a firearm was involved.



Again though like the precious occassions, it appeared to be from a moving vehicle, so unless you have a registration or have actually seen the weapon it is hard to call in.

It is actually quite common at night in Christchurch & the reckless use of firearms is more prominent as shown by a media investigation, than most people would realize. Most are just not reported.

That also came out during the shooting of a gunman in Christchurch, in that he had fired shots before but no one in the street had called the police for most incidents & the one they had he was able to explain away.

Security Guards often are facing all that on their own!

http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

It's War! Boy Racers need to be taken off the streets!

Kia Ora,

When I have being building systems & procedures for the service I recently launched from about the year 2000 it has being with the realization that there would likely be calls & encounters with the street racers known locally as boy racers.

But last night they declared war & now I will use all legal means to ensure they are taken off our roads.

Now to the 'Angry Man' here is a point where your argument falls flat.

The  first incident last night I avoided a head on crash because of my experience in Iraq, not the fact I have qualified as an AA advanced driver during my NZQA Close Protection (Bodyguard) course.

What possessed the idiot to suddenly try to pass the small flat deck on what is known locally as that southern arterial near the turn off towards Hoon Hay road, I don't know. Suddenly they found themselves heading towards a traffic island, so they swerved into my lane where the only traffic was oncoming.

Most people in that situation would of either ended up in a head on crash or over reacted & gone off the road & ended up in the deep ditch next to it. Either way would probably be fatal.

A large truck heading to Lyttleton would of had no where to go.

It was only the experience of encountering sudden head on traffic often in Baghdad that I believe allowed me to get through safely.

As if that was not enough, I arrived at my intended destination, a local service station, to only be followed in by another boy racer idiot, who was driving at speed across the forecourt, just missed hitting two bowsers & only came in to read a map.

Suffice to say they got the first shots across their bows in a very aggressive comment on their lack of driving skills & lack of general worth to the human race.  Or as we would say in the army, an oxygen thief & waste of rations.

If that wasn't enough shortly after a young woman was seen to get into a car then reversed straight out onto the road without looking, causing me to swerve.

Some say the issue is there needs to be burn out pads made for these idiots.

That will only take some of the fringe players off the road, not the hard core who are often in the past being seen to be connected to organized crime. When these guys are about then burglaries go up behind the scenes. Not to mention the fact that security,police & the general public have being threatened, items such as bottles thrown at them.

They have been known to have firearms & have threatened after one incident to use molotov cocktails against police.

This has to stop & they have to learn the world does not owe them a life. We had a lot less to do than they do now & even the petrol heads never got to this stage. In fact they tended to just enjoy themselves & minimise the annoyance to others.

Later last night I managed to pass onto police where some  more idiots were starting to gather & carryout burnouts. Though no thanks to police comm's (who really need some training) they were caught by a passing patrol (a common complaint is patrols have no idea that something is going on, including a night when I had a crowd of boy racers throwing bottles at me & about 20 minutes later after my 111 call a patrol showed up because I knew the officer in charge, so he come to check up after an earlier incident, there had never being a job put out over the radio).

So boy racers we want you off our streets. You have lost your rights to be treated nicely as you are terrorizing neighbourhoods, businesses & those whose job it is to keep the place secure.

           http://www.foxhoundsecurity.co.nz

Firearms Control!

Kia Ora,

Well it has hit the headlines again. Firearms control after a couple of murders where firearms were used.

But is the way we control them actually going to stop the murders?


Not really. The recently released NZ police statistics made the point that most murders were carried out without a firearm. Often they would of happened without one being present anyway. It was just convenient.

As my sergeants used to say in the army it is not the weapon that kills, but the nut behind it. Or as a former member of the British SAS said to me in Baghdad, "watch the weapon, not the clown behind it. Where it points is the danger, not the clowns intention."

No that is not a contradiction. The weapon is the tool. Badly handled it is dangerous & a bad workman blames his tools.

Of course there is the upswing in armed robbery of late as the financial crisis strengthens it grip, leads to a rise in crime.

Most of those weapons are illegal. Smuggled in through a variety of sources.

For a number of years the NZ police used to have a small press release asking people to watch out for suspicious activity around our coastline which they believed were responsible for alsorts of smuggling.

Then there are incidents like the one last year where a container showed up in Dunedin full of explosives.

Again it often comes back to the NZ mindset. Although we identify as pioneer types most are city born & breed & have probably never held a firearm.

Properly trained they are not that dangerous unless you intentionally intend to use them. But NZ tends to have the blinkers on.

For example recently after I left the army I was involved in the security for a public event. The police were getting their briefing for the nights event when over the radio came "a young boy has just had a firearm pointed at him by a male, description ....., keep an eye out in this area until police arrive from briefing".

We were close to that point, so I suggested we get a little closer to see if we could identify the person in question prior to police arrival.

My offsiders comment was "we will see him as firearms stick out".

"what about pistols or sawn off shotgun?" I asked.

"Oh they are illegal, so they won't be around".

Not sure what planet that guy was on, but just presenting a firearm at someone is illegal or having them concealed, as it was reported to be, is also illegal in NZ. So I don't think that was going to stop someone having one or other of the above weapons.

Stricter weapons control will only penalise those that follow the law. True some of them are pretty slack & the police deal to them when they discover that fact.

But it will in no way affect those that intend to use them for criminal acts.