Sydney security guard killed during robbery

Sydney AU June 7 2010 As family and friends grieve for a veteran security guard killed in a brazen attack in the centre of Sydney, his killers remained on the run last night.

Gary Allibon, 59, from Kirrawee, had 11 years’ experience in the industry and there was speculation yesterday that his determination to resist the swathed men and protect his colleagues cost him his life.

Attacks on security guards are all too common. About once a month a cash van is robbed somewhere in Sydney. Few attacks end in death. Five or six guards are understood to have been killed in the past three decades.

But it is believed Mr Allibon was no stranger to the dangers of his job. He had reportedly been the victim of an attack in North Sydney last year.

Before he was a security guard, Mr Allibon worked for Qantas.

Bill Allibon told the Herald his nephew was very good at his job and enjoyed the work.

”He never seemed to worry. He really liked the job.”

Early yesterday morning he was one of three Chubb security guards attacked by four armed men outside the Darling Park office complex in Sussex Street. The men, wearing balaclavas and carrying firearms, had approached the van before demanding money. It is unclear if Mr Allibon resisted but seconds later he was shot in the chest. He died in hospital.

Police say the men took Mr Allibon’s gun and stole some cash before escaping in what was believed to have been a stolen car. Police have viewed security footage from cameras across the city to try to piece together the robbers’ movements before the attack. Last night police were trying to enhance some of the footage to identify the number plates on the car used, believed to be a silver Audi sedan.

Until the car is identified police cannot confirm to whom it belonged. So far no match has been found, though a similar car had been seen in the central business district. Police warned people not to approach the car.

Detective Inspector Mark Henney from the robbery squad rejected suggestions of an inside job. ”The difficulty is that there were a number of guards who had various roles during this security operation,” he said.

The Police Minister, Michael Daley, said it was ”a cowardly attack on a bloke who was simply going about his daily business”. He denied suggestions that too few staff protected the vans.

Mr Allibon is survived by his wife Monica, parents George and Patricia, and brothers Michael, Ian and Neil.

Security guards over dangerous areas

Toowoomba AU May 24 2010   SECURITY officer Mark Grady believes violence in Toowoomba is out of control with anti-social youths running riot.

Mr Grady, who has worked as a freelance security officer in Toowoomba for the past six years, has hung up his uniform vowing not to return to Toowoomba’s streets until something is done about the increasing violence.

“I would not work as a security guard in Toowoomba any more. I am fed up with it,” Mr Grady said.

“It is too violent. In the last three years, it has just really gotten out of control. There is no way it is safe to walk alone in the CBD at night.

“In the last 18 months, about 40 of my friends and co-workers have resigned from the security industry in Toowoomba. That’s how bad it is.”

Mr Grady said the risk factor for security work was too high. He said security guards were increasingly taking the law into their own hands because of lack of other options.

“I would honestly rather work as a security guard at Schoolies on the Gold Coast than in Toowoomba,” he said.

Mr Grady said there were a number of factors which contributed to violence on Toowoomba’s streets.

These included inexperienced security guards, lack of powers for police and guards, many grey areas for security guards and pathetic punishments for violent offenders.

“These people keep breaking the law because there is no real punishment when they do.

“The situation is out of control and until someone gets the law right it will never get better,” Mr Grady said.

“I wouldn’t trust anyone in the CBD. It is by far the worst part of Toowoomba.”

Bouncers charged with murder after beating man www.privateofficer.com

Queensland AU May 21 2010 The first police officer on the scene of a fatal alleged bashing by three Gold Coast bouncers did not check whether the victim was alive before he handcuffed him.

Senior Constable Benjamin Tonges told Brisbane Supreme Court yesterday he never touched Terii Tararo when he arrived at Fisherman’s Wharf Tavern at Main Beach, in response to a violent clash between patrons and security, on May 18, 2008.

Three bouncers – Denis Legradi, 32, Morne Ricardo Lombaard, 30, and Naeroa Petera Tepaukouni, 37 – have pleaded not guilty to Mr Tararo’s murder.

Senior Constable Tonges said he approached a group of bouncers restraining Mr Tararo, who was face down on the ground and did not appear to be moving.

He said he placed a handcuff on Mr Tararo after one of the bouncers positioned the man’s arms.

When Mr Tararo’s other arm was positioned, Senior Constable Tonges fastened the second metal cuff.

“Then I dropped the cuffs … [his arms] just relaxed straight down,” he said.

“At no stage did I have skin on skin contact with him. I only ever touched the handcuffs.”

But under cross-examination by Mr Lombaard’s defence barrister Damian Walsh, Senior Constable Tonges admitted the day after the death that when he handcuffed him, he had felt Mr Tararo “tensing up”.

“If I said that … there was just a resistance of weight, the weight of his arms,” he said.

Earlier in the trial, bouncer Tanner Hibel gave evidence he was the bouncer who presented Mr Tararo’s wrists to be handcuffed by Senior Constable Tonges.

He said he “felt resistance” when pulling Mr Tararo’s arms up for the cuffing, which he thought indicated he was still alive at that point.

Senior Sergeant Bruce Diamond, who also gave evidence at the trial yesterday, said it was normal procedure to cuff unruly, violent hotel patrons first and ask questions later.

“Ninety-nine per cent of incidents I’ve been to in Surfers Paradise or at Fisherman’s Wharf, when people have been restrained by security, the first thing police do is handcuff them,” he said.

“It’s a matter of public safety. I believed these people being held down [by bouncers] were high risk.”

However, Senior Sergeant Diamond revealed Mr Tararo’s death had been treated as a death in custody.

Asked by barrister Peter Nolan, representing Mr Legradi, if that would have been “an unpleasant experience” for him as the most senior officer involved in the incident, Senior Sergeant Diamond agreed.

“I wasn’t concerned about that. It was quite clear what the police’s role in this matter was,” he said.

“I don’t believe it was a death in custody.”

Senior Sergeant Diamond denied a suggestion from Mr Nolan that Mr Tararo had been left, while handcuffed, lying face down on the ground outside the tavern because there had been no room for him in the police paddywagon, due to the man’s obesity.

Senior Sergeant Diamond said the prisoners’ area of the vehicle could seat five people, so fitting him in would not have been a problem.

The trial continues today.

Violence in Edmonton brings out more security www.privateofficer.com

 

 

Edmonton Ca May 12 2010 Worries about violence in downtown Edmonton have prompted many businesses, apartment and condominiums to hire private security guards.“Right now we’re hiring about 6 to 10 people a week,” said Kyle Donovan, manager of Securiguard, a private security firm in Edmonton.

Two people were stabbed downtown within hours last Thursday — a 14-year-old girl outside the Stanley Milner Library and a man inside Edmonton City Centre Mall. A daylight stabbing outside the library on April 9, sent a 30-year-old man to hospital.

“With some of the recent events, we’re finding that high-visibility security is a must downtown and you need it to act as a preventative,” Donovan said.

Many safety concerns are focused on the area outside the library’s main entrance on 102nd Avenue. Youths tend to hang out there, as well as in Churchill Square and Edmonton City Centre Mall.

Last week, Mayor Stephen Mandel advocated moving the entrance of the library to the south side of the building, opening onto a plaza facing the Westin Hotel.

Edmonton Police has doubled the number of officers on foot patrol in the downtown area. (CBC)But Supt. David Veitch thinks the mayor’s idea simply moves the problem elsewhere.

“Regardless of where you put the entrance, there are certain factors that bring people into the downtown area,” he said. “And they seem to congregate in this general area.”

Veitch held a news conference Monday to highlight what police are doing to combat crime around the library, City Centre Mall and Churchill Square.

The number of beat officers patrolling downtown streets has doubled. Police are also working more closely with Edmonton Transit and city peace officers, Veitch said.

“We’ve been sharing… things like what’s been going on in the downtown area, our crime maps and things like that as well as giving them some of our prevention materials.”

Police are also seeking funding from the province to hire a mental health worker for the downtown division.

“I think it’s important because issues around mental health lead to homelessness and lead to poverty and we need to deal with these individuals differently … and try to help them and move them on in their life and get them the help they need,” Veitch said.

Security guard attacked in Auckland

Auckland NZ May 12 2010 Two men attacked a security guard during rush-hour on Auckland’s main street, but fled with nothing.

The Armourguard employee fractured a big toe in the incident, around 5pm yesterday.

The guard was taking money to his van outside the TSB Bank on the corner of Queen and Wellesley Sts.

One witness said he saw two men running from the bank towards a “banged up-looking” getaway car, where a third person appeared to be waiting for them.

“They got in and within one or two seconds, they just sped off.

“I saw one of the guys’ faces clearly – he wasn’t wearing a mask. But it was so quick,” said the man, who did not want to be named.

The car, thought to be a 1990s model, sped down the wrong side of the road on neighbouring Lorne St – a one-way street – in front of the Auckland Public Library. A police helicopter was circling the area within half an hour of the attempted robbery.

Officials at police northern communications said it appeared nothing had been stolen.

They asked any witnesses to come forward.

NZ guard charged with kidnapping-rape

May 7 2010

Aukland NZ

A uniformed security guard abducted a young woman walking home drunk from downtown Auckland in a bid to have sex with her, police allege.

Yousef Ibrahim appeared in the Auckland District Court yesterday charged with detaining the woman to have sex with her and attempting to sexually violate her.

The 20-year-old works as a guard for Matrix Security and was on duty when he picked up the 23-year-old woman on Wakefield St, off Queen St, early on Thursday.

The police and defence agree that the woman entered his vehicle and was driven to a carpark in Sale St, where the car stopped and the incident took place around 3am.

Police opposed bail but defence lawyer Jo Scott said Ibrahim was the “sole breadwinner” for his family and needed to work to support them.

She said her client’s version of events differed from that of the woman, and there was no corroborating evidence to back up her story.

Ibrahim had said the woman waved down the security vehicle, sat in the front passenger-side seat and refused to leave the car.

He could not physically remove her as that would be assault, said Ms Scott, so he decided to continue on his route.

“It wouldn’t be the first time that a young, drunk woman has made false accusations like this.”

Sergeant Paul Housley told the court that Ibrahim offered the woman a ride home after she fell over in Wakefield St while walking home alone.

Mr Housley said Ibrahim was in a position of trust as a security guard and could have called an ambulance, police or employer instead of taking her in the car.

Judge Richard Watson said that whichever story was true, Ibrahim had made an “error of judgment”.

He granted bail with strict conditions, including that Ibrahim not drive a marked security vehicle unless with another guard. He also had to surrender his passport.

Matrix Security staff services manager Neil Grimstone said the company was co-operating with the police investigation. Ibrahim had been stood down until the case was resolved.

The Government proposes to tighten regulations covering security staff with the Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Bill, which will have its second reading in Parliament this month.

Private Police given green light

SouthHampton England April 23 2010 A SOUTHAMPTON man who set up a scheme to give residents their own “private police” service has been given the go-ahead to resume.

David MacLean, 27, had been convicted of dressing in a uniform that would make the public believe he was a real officer.

But his conviction at the city magistrates court has been quashed in an appeal.

The prosecution accepted they could not prove he had deliberately intended to impersonate a police officer and offered no evidence.

Mr MacLean was awarded costs. Allowing the appeal, Judge Peter Ralls QC, who sat with two magistrates, said they had made “a pragmatic decision”.

Mr MacLean, who is boss of Atraks, which launched its service in Southampton last year, had been fined £1,600 after being convicted of two charges of impersonating a police officer.

Defence lawyer Jeremy Barton said: “His business has not been running and his security licence has been confiscated resulting from this conviction. He would be working otherwise. It is his business. There are similar ones running in London and encouraged in legislation.”

Mr MacLean, who lives in Holcroft Road, Thornhill, was charged following two incidents in Netley and Eastleigh.

In the former, a police officer mistook him for a colleague as he attended a riot dressed in his security uniform and stab vest. The officer’s partner, however, recognised Mr MacLean from school and realised the error.

A week later, MacLean was spotted in Eastleigh town centre again dressed in full uniform and talking to pub staff.

Mr MacLean’s Atraks is a £3.15-a-week patrol service designed to give extra protection from criminals and antisocial behaviour.

Bouncers, security guards required to have more training

HALIFAX, N.S. — Ten years ago, Anita and Cyril Giffin’s son died after a scuffle with a 300-pound bouncer outside a Halifax bar.

 On Friday, the couple was at the provincial legislature when Nova Scotia’s justice minister introduced a bill that will require all bouncers and private security guards who interact with the public to receive training and follow a code of conduct.

 ”I think it’s a positive step after we suffered this tragedy – the loss of our son – and I just hope that no other family has to go through what our family has suffered in the last 10 years,” Anita Giffin said afterwards.

 The proposed law calls for mandatory training standards and licensing of bouncers, bodyguards, private investigators, security guards and the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires.

 In the early hours of Dec. 23, 1999, Stephen Giffin was hauled out of Captain Eli’s Restaurant and Lounge by bouncer George Joseph MacDonald after a dispute erupted over the girlfriend of bar manager Roni Peter Laba.

 Stephen Giffin, a former paramedic and father of three, was later found unconscious in the bar’s parking lot.

 The 38-year-old was taken off life support two days later, Christmas Day.

 Laba and MacDonald were charged with manslaughter, but a jury acquitted them in 2001. Each man testified that the other was holding Giffin when he passed out in the parking lot.

 Court heard that a mixture of alcohol and the antidepressant clomipramine was a factor in Giffin’s death.

 However, one pathologist testified that she believed Giffin died when the carotid artery in his neck was stimulated by a neck hold, stopping his heart and depriving his brain of oxygen.

 His father has said he believes a choke hold caused his son’s death.

 The acquittal of the two men left Cyril Giffin seething with anger and determined to do something to prevent similar deaths in the future.

 In 2001, Laba and MacDonald agreed to pay Stephen Giffin’s three daughters $90,000 in a out-of-court settlement to compensate them for the loss of their father’s financial support, care and guidance.

 Three years later, Cyril Giffin walked from Sydney, N.S., to Halifax to protest the Crown’s handling of his son’s case and he continued to push for new rules that would require bouncers to be trained and registered.

 In 2006, he helped compile a 547-name petition that was presented to the legislature.

 On Friday, Justice Minister Ross Landry said the regulatory changes were long overdue. The bill represents the first significant change governing the province’s security industry in 35 years.

 ”The current … legislation is outdated and does not address public safety issues,” he said.

 The legislation would bring Nova Scotia in line with other provinces, including Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

 Cyril Giffin said the proposed law could have saved his son’s life.

 ”I don’t think a person who was trained properly would have done what was done there. I think they would have had more confidence in themselves … and that wouldn’t have taken place,” he said.

 ”I believe it’s a step in the right direction. … People are starting to get the point that no matter where you are there’s no reason to do harm to someone.”

 Mike Brownlow, director of business for Commissionaires Nova Scotia, said his organization welcomed the new rules.

 ”It’s another level of accountability to ensure that security in the province is delivering its final outcome, which is safety to Nova Scotians,” he said.

Guards robbed

Hutt Valley NZ 

Two Armourguard officers have been robbed at a Hutt Valley shopping centre by a man who fled in waiting van.

The robbery was one of two targeting security guards at shopping centres yesterday.

A money case was taken from one of the guards after he was assaulted, near an ANZ ATM at the Stokes Valley Shopping Centre on Stokes Valley Road at about 1.45pm, Lower Hutt police said.

The robber ran to Evans Street where he was seen getting into a white van, possibly a Toyota, driven by another man.

The robber was described as a solidly built Maori or Polynesian, standing about 1.82 meters tall. He was wearing a light coloured beanie, black sunglasses, red jeans, and a white long sleeve top

Police have asked that anyone with information about the robbery contact Detective Sergeant Dean Simpson at the Lower Hutt Police Station on (04) 560 2600 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (04) 560 2600      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              0800 555 111      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Meanwhile, a Hamilton builder drove his vehicle into the side of a robbers’ getaway car allowing police to grab five men after an armoured van hold up.

Police Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Greene said they got dozens of emergency calls as the robbery took place at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Chartwell about 1.40pm.

He said while many phoned in emergency calls, an unnamed builder took more direct action, driving his vehicle into the getaway car.

“Police always take the position of not encouraging direct intervention in such situations,” said Mr Green.

“However this person’s actions slowed the offenders escape.”

He said the intervention allowed officers to arrest five men on Egmont Street and said police were grateful for the assistance.

Greene said that it appeared that guards in an Armourguard security van had been attacked by the occupants of a silver Nissan sedan on the second floor of the Chartwell shopping centre’s car park.

A large sum of money was taken.

He said police would be looking at an ‘appropriate method’ of showing their appreciation to the helpful builder.

“Meanwhile our staff are currently interviewing the offenders and witnesses while a forensic examination of the getaway vehicles is currently underway,” he said.

Guard convicted of sexual assault

Toronto Canada April 16 2010

A security guard at St. Michael’s hospital is serving five months in jail after being convicted of sexually assaulting a patient, CBC News has learned.

The incident happened in a bathroom on the third floor of the hospital in July 2008.

Court transcripts detail how the 43-year-old woman was taken to an isolated part of the hospital by security guard Ronnie Donaldson and assaulted, after he had finished his shift.

Donaldson, 49, was convicted two weeks ago.

According to the transcripts the two met while the woman, who had been committed to the hospital’s psychiatric ward for treatment, was outside the hospital smoking.

Donaldson, who had worked at the hospital for 20 years, offered to show the woman the hospital’s rooftop helipad, where helicopters take off and land.

Later, he gave her a tour of an isolated part of the hospital. By that time he had changed out of his security guard uniform.

Donaldson testified he believed she wanted to have sex and they fondled each other in a bathroom in a closed off wing on the hospital’s third floor.

Afterwards the woman, who was suicidal, reported what happened to police.

At Donaldson’s trial, she told the court “I feel like I was taken advantage of when I wasn’t in a very clear state of mind.”

The hospital has refused to comment on the case.