Armed Robbery
Organised crime has been responsible for a number of high-profile robberies which have netted millions of pounds in cash and high-value goods. Some have included the use of ‘tiger’ kidnaps in which family members have been taken hostage to compel an employee to facilitate a robbery from their place of work. Nationally, the number of CIT attacks has been rising over the last three years, withLondon , Manchester , Merseyside and the West Midlands being the four hardest-hit areas; Northern Ireland currently ranks fifth in national terms accounting for some 8% of all CIT attacks in 2005.
Cash-in-transit robberies have been a significant feature of organised crime since the late 1990s. There was a sharp increase in the number of incidents in 2001 and the problem was adopted as a priority by the OCTF. Working in close partnership with partners in the security and banking sectors, strategies were developed and implemented to tackle the problem. Key initiatives have included the development of a risk matrix to identify high risk delivery locations and the creation of a joint control room involving PSNI and cash-in-transit companies.
The number of armed robberies in NI attributed to organised criminals continues to decline. During 2005/06, there were 58 armed robberies in Northern Ireland, including 7 tiger kidnaps. This represents a 10% decrease in armed robbery attacks compared to the previous year. The 2005/06 also represented a decrease of almost 50% in 113 armed robberies that took place in 2002/03.
| 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Number of armed robbery in NI attributed to organised criminals | 70 | 64 | 58 |
