ATM Crime Breakthroughs

Six “travellers” have received significant jail sentences for their role in a string of ATM ram raids and violent armed robberies across East Anglia following one of the largest joint police operations the area has seen.

The gang were responsible for the stealing property and causing damage totalling £1 million during a 12-month spree across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex.

The police launched Operation Arctic, which culminated in 500 officers, some of them armed, being involved in a series of raids on travellers’ sites in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire last September.

Judge David Goodin said the gang had planned their raids with "paramilitary precision" and struck terror into victims and witnesses.  The judge said that threats of violence and on occasion’s actual violence had been a key part of the gang's strategy, together with high-speed escapes by car, sometimes with no lights and making pursuit by police too dangerous.

Since the arrest of the gang, who at the height of their violent campaign, were committing up to three raids a day in the four counties concerned, police say the number of crimes of that type has fallen significantly.

Ipswich Crown Court heard how the gang had gone on a year-long spree of ram raids, violent robbery and smash-and-grab raids, targeting village shops, post offices and petrol filling stations.

Prosecutor John Farmer told the court how the gang had armed themselves with sawn-off shotguns, baseball bats, pickaxe handles and sledgehammers while disguising their identities using balaclava masks.

Cash machines were ripped out using stolen vehicles, the front of other shops were smashed open, while armed robberies in which staff and customers were left terrified netted the men tens of thousands of pounds.

Sentenced were Stacey Smith, 22; John Smith, 23; John Curtis, 29 and Thomas Curtis, 23, all of Wisbech; Rocky Curtis, 18, of March; Barry Street, 22, of Mildenhall and Rocky Buckley, 20, of Willingham, near Cambridge.

Stacey Smith was jailed for 10 years, John Smith for 11 years, John Curtis for 11 years, Thomas Curtis for 12 years, Barry Street for 14 years and Rocky Buckley for 16 years.

Rocky Curtis, who had banked the proceeds of the crimes, but not taken an active part in the raids, was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work.

Alan Townsend, Chair of the UK ATM Security Working Group (ATMSWG) and ATMIA European Security Advisor said: “Operation Arctic has been a great success showing that when law enforcement, industry and communities work collaboratively real results are achieved and those responsible for these destructive crimes can and will be brought to justice.

“Sentencing these men to ten or more years imprisonment sends out the strongest possible message to the criminal fraternity that society will not tolerate violent lawlessness in our communities.”

Representatives from the ATMSWG, British Bankers’ Association and Building Societies Association assisted investigating police officers in providing industry information and contacts during the early stages of Operation Arctic and provided funding for the preparation of crime reduction information packs.

Article prepared by Alan Townsend with full acknowledgment to Suffolk Free Press.

More ATM Arrests by UK Police

Alan Townsend reports on further successes by UK police in bringing organised and violent ATM gangs to justice and the important role the ATM industry plays in assisting law enforcement.

Three men have been charged with a series of ATM thefts and attacks against cash in transit crews by Gateshead Police following an operation that has been running since January 2006.

Targets included the theft of stand-alone ATMs from leisure facilities, convenience stores and petrol service stations in addition to several violent attacks against cash carrying security staff using noxious sprays.

Detective Inspector Noble of Gateshead Police said: "These arrests are part of an ongoing police operation that's been running since January into a number of attacks upon security guards where large quantities of cash have been stolen".

The three men have been charged with conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to commit robbery and appeared in Gateshead Magistrates’ Court in December 2006.

In March 2006, the ATM Security Working Group (ATMSWG), British Bankers’ Association (BBA) and Building Societies Association (BSA) wrote a joint letter to all fifty-two UK police chiefs to express their concern regarding the exponential growth in ATM crime.  The opening paragraph said: “Every day the UK economy loses on average £23,000 in hard cash to violent organised criminals who attack Automatic Telling Machines (ATMs) and the people who service them.  This crime has now spread to all corners of the UK.”

This was not an exaggeration!  ATM crime in the UK increased 121% between 2001 and 2005, up 83% in the last two years.  In 2005 there were 879 ATM attacks, averaging 73 per month and the ATM sector suffered £8,574,210 in pure cash losses.

But this figure masks the greater costs of ATM crime.  Aside from collateral damage to premises and loss of trade, which are often far in excess of the actual cash lost in the ATM, the physical and emotional impact on those affected can be devastating and long lasting, undermining public confidence in the safety and security of their own communities.

Using the often quoted “iceberg” formula for determining the total cost of crime, i.e. for every £1 lost above the waterline there is between £10 and £15 lost below, we begin to see that ATM crime in the UK was costing a staggering £85m to £128m.  Of course, these figures do not take into account losses to the cash in transit industry in relation to ATM related deliveries and replenishment - add the £8.5m lost by the CIT industry in 2005 and then apply the above formula and we see some very big numbers emerging!

However, the actual attack on the ATM is often not an isolated offence.  It is part of a pattern of criminal behaviour that often includes domestic and commercial burglary, the theft of vehicles and plant machinery, firearms offences and physical assaults.

The joint letter referred to above was not just about ‘having a moan’.  UK industries affected by crime have learnt that letters of complaint seldom produce the positive response sought; often such communications only receive a corporate defence, which achieve very little.  Having set out the problem, importantly the letter went on to offer each police force area the opportunity to work in partnership with the ATM industry in providing close co-operation, intelligence sharing and industry experience of how the ATM criminal operates, what tactics are used and the technology employed.

Overall the response was positive and much good work has been achieved between the police and the ‘Rapid Reaction ATM Police Support Group’ (see October issue of ATMIA Post ‘Pay-Back Time’).  Coming from a law enforcement background, it was no surprise to the writer that police colleagues were unaware of the significant level of intelligence and information available from the ATM industry and that there was a genuine willingness to provide and share this data.

In the UK, the three sectors that deploy ATMs, namely independent’s, banks & building societies, all maintain detailed databases of crimes perpetrated against them through their respective trade bodies.  These data are regularly pooled to form one generic database and is accessible to all investigating and intelligence police officers throughout the UK – a powerful tool when dealing with criminals who regularly travel the length and breadth of the country to commit ATM crime.

Several major police operations have followed, involving the arrest and conviction of a significant number of organised ATM criminal gangs, the most recent being the arrests referred to at the beginning of this article.

The key aspect of the success of such initiatives has been the close co-operation and intelligence sharing between the police and private sector.  The UK ATM industry can and does provide tailored advice and assistance on ATM attacks and countermeasures through a network of contacts that support specific police operations - to date the industry is experiencing a 16% reduction in ATM physical crime.

by Alan Townsend
Chair ATMSWG & ATMIA European Security Advisor