GARDA CRACKDOWN ON CRIME IN DUHALLOW
COUNTERFEIT €50 and €20 notes are in circulation in Macroom, Millstreet and Rathmore and retailers are being warned to be cautious by Gardai, especially with Christmas just around the corner.
At a hugely informative Security Information Evening, recently held at the E- Centre in Millstreet and attended by retailers from Millstreet and Rathmore., a presentation and question and answer session was made by Sergeant Paul Lynch, Garda John Crowley and Crime Prevention Officer Ian O’Callaghan.
At the meeting, retailers voiced their concerns about fake bank notes, CCTV cameras, Cyber crime and shop lifting. This meeting was a follow on from two other well attended meetings in Boherbue, where retailers from Ballydesmond and Kiskeam also attended.
Garda Crowley told The Corkman that they have had a number of detections of fake €50 and €20 notes in Macroom, Millstreet and Rathmore. He urged retailers to be vigilant when being given notes and to have a checking device in their stores.
With regards to shoplifting, he said Gardai are informed by the proprietor of a shop after the event takes place. It is best advised that the person suspected of shoplifting should firstly leave the premises and have passed “all the points of payment.” Then a retailer can speak to a person they suspect of shoplifting to ask them if they have forgotten to pay for items or to ask if there are items in their possession which they have not paid for.
With regards to his own work as a Garda, he said that usually there is “great relief ” when a person is caught shoplifting as it is something which has been occurring for years.
Popular targets for shoplifters include expensive food such as steak, noted Garda Crowley. “Retailers usually have their alcohol electronically tagged and cigarettes are now behind the counter of shops,” he said.
However, in pharmacies and other shops, perfumes and cosmetics are still big targets.
With regards to CCTV, he encouraged retailers to have in place a modern system. “Nowadays a system which is 10 years old is almost obsolete. It is important that quality CCTV is in place,” he said.
For CCTV in a business, it is important not to have a black spot - where there isn’t coverage available. And the tills should also be covered by a solid CCTV system.
For business owners who have large sums of cash, it is best if they can lodge the money to their bank and importantly never have a routine. Gardai would advise the best routine is simply not to have a routine.
If a business owner cannot take their money to a bank, then they should really have in place a very solid security system in place at their business.
He praised the retailers in the region for taking a pro-active stance with regards to security and for becoming very involved in the question and answer format session which was held.
“With Christmas not too far away, it is very important that retailers become informed of how to best protect their businesses. Overall, the informative nights were very good and some good information was shared by all,” he said.