ATMIA's Ram Raid Think Tank is close to signing off its international best practices for preventing ram raids. Several countries are experiencing persistent occurrences of ram raids and ATMIA was approached to set up a forum to outline security best practice and security solutions for reducing the incidences of these attacks against ATMs which can lead to extensive damage to property and loss of cash. The best practice manual is being edited by ATMIA's new European Security Adviser, former award winning detective Alan Townsend, who has joined the association on a part-time basis after a distinquished career with the Metropolitan Police Service during which he was awarded an MBE, one of the highest honours a citizen can be granted in the United Kingdom. Townsend established the UK's ATM Security Working Group (ATMSWG) in 2002 to focus on ATM security in the off-premise market. The ATMSWG published physical security best practices for both stand-alone ATMs and street-based ATMs (that is, ATMs in kiosks and former telephone booths in the UK). He is one of the world's leading experts in preventing ram raids.
 
Here is the Global ATM Security Alliance's definition of a ram raid:
 
The Global ATM Security Alliance distinguishes between a ram raid and an ATM burglary. A ram raid is an attempt to remove an ATM, and its contents, from its location, usually after battering through to the ATM with a 4 X 4 motor vehicle. An ATM burglary is when an ATM is broken into, by thief or “insider”, to steal its cash.
 
A ram raid involves an attempt to rip the ATM out of its position and remove it from its premises with the intention of breaking into the machine later to steal its cash.
 
Ram raids often take place in the early hours of the morning in areas where police times might be slower than normal.
 
In the United Kingdom (UK) a ram raid of business premises is a criminal offence of burglary under Section 9 Theft Act 1968; the term ‘ram raid’ is shorthand for the method (modus operandi or MO) used to commit the burglary.
 
A variation of the ram raid is the rip-out. Here the premises or building are not ram-raided as such, but some form of construction plant with a bucket attachment, such as a JCB, is used to remove the ATM from the wall into which it is fitted. 
 
ATMIA looks forward to sharing these soon-to-be -published security guidelines within the industry with a view to addressing the on-going problem of ram raids.
 
After that the Think Tank will become an information-sharing forum for distributing and collating success stories, countermeasures and data regarding ram raids.