Earlier this week a school teacher in Bradford, South Yorkshire, innocently thought nothing about giving his pupils a little chocolate sweet as a treat as they left the school. Unfortunately, one of the sweets contained a hazelnut which was choosen by a seven year old pupil with a nut allergy. The child, after consuming the sweet, then went into anaphylactic shock, his face went red and his mouth began to swell, and even although his parents knew what had happened and injected him with his life saving EpiPen he still suffered two cardiac arrests. The little boy is now out of danger but still in hospital.

Here at Crime Prevention Products we understand that accidents do happen, although no one wants it to happen to their child. Peanut allergy affects around 4% of school children with one in ten being serious if not diagnosed correctly and properly (source). Luckily for this child, his parents were on hand to diagnose the symptoms immediately and call the emergency services. However, what if help was not at hand, how would others know what to do when a child or adult took an anaphylactic shock from a food source.

Crime Prevention Products have the perfect solution – the Nut Allergy ID Tags, this life saving ID system will link the emergency services with your family just incase the unthinkable does happen.

Here at Crime Prevention Products we are always on the lookout for news stories that are of interest and this is one that came out a few days ago. It’s a fact of life that hardly anyone carries cash any more. We all have our ‘flexible friend’ to help us, and if we need money all we have to do is head to the nearest ATM. Many businesses, hotels restaurants and garages all take payment via Chip and Pin thus ensuring that we don’t have to carry much money around with us.

According to life assistance company, CCP, credit card fraud has now effected 13 million people in Britain, and, even though we saw a 3% reduction last year some people are still unaware that their credit/bank card has been cloned and used for purchasing goods. It is reported that some card owners (around 33%) don’t even know they have became a victim, while 34% only found out when their bank or credit company contacted them (source). In the report Brighton is named as the card fraud capital of the country followed by London and Manchester.

The report also reveals the methods that are used to obtain your details include:

• The magnetic stripe on the card being cloned at an ATM or via a Chip and PIN machine.
• Internet fraud, criminals using the internet to gain access to your card details.
• Letting their credit/bank cards out of their sight.
• People not shielding their fingers as they enter their PIN number.

It is estimated that credit card fraud costs our economy an estimated £440 million every year, so people have to stay vigilant while using their card. However, there are several actions that people can do to help protect their money including :

• Don’t use a card machine or ATM if you think it has been tampered with.
• Whilst using the ATM don’t let people look over your shoulder and cover your fingers as you enter your PIN number.
• Never enter your card details into a web site unless you are 100% happy with it.

These may seem like simple common sense instructions, however, there are some people that will be only too happy to take full advantage of that lack of concentration. Often costing you more than you think!

An American security business owner, Frederick Hanover, has launched a new security application for iPhone users which he states will enhance personal safety. The imSafe App for Smart Phones provides real time police, emergency medical, and fire response to your GPS tracked location from its professional 24-hour-a-day worldwide security centers.

The imSafe App connects a person in trouble to their nearest emergency provider. To send the alert, you just need to touch the imSafe screen button three times, then the App will translate your nearest GPS coordinates to the nearest physical street address, where the security center staff will alert the local authorities. The imSafe App can also be handy in an abduction scenario where the security center can track anyone moved against his or her will, transmitting new coordinates for every 10 meters the person has been moved.

Of course, there are limitations with the imSafe App, as a GPS coordinate can only have a fixed ground position and cannot tell if you’re on the first floor of a building or the tenth. Although the imSafe App is just over £3 to download to your smart phone – there is a monthly subscription charge of around £7 , so that you’re hooked up to the 24/7 security center.

Generally at this time of year many residents get filled with Christmas cheer, yeah right, those that are feeling christmassy haven’t headed out to the shops over these last few weekends. The hustle and bustle, the loss of manners as people charge past can have even the most mild-mannered person on the verge of a cussing volley. However, in amongst all this pandemonium, there are individuals and groups looking to ruin your Christmas shopping experience. They see you as a way of making easy money and they know at this time of year people are distracted even more than normal with Christmas weighing on their minds rather than their own security.

When you go out Christmas shopping there are a few pointers that YOU have to remember:

• Never ‘flash’ the cash, in a busy high street it would only take a second for someone to snatch your money and disappear into the crowd.
• When in your local department store don’t leave your already purchased goods on the end of basket or pushchair while you head off looking for more goods.
• Never leave your kids/babies unattended as you head off to the other side of the shop looking through the sale items.
• Remember at this time of year there are going to be thousands of people heading out doing their Christmas shopping everyone knocking and banging into you, it would only take a professional pick pocket a few seconds to walk away with all your hard earned cash.

This Christmas be safe and think about what you are doing with your money and presents.

When it comes to home and personal security most residents will show a bit of common sense when it comes to locking up their homes, garages and garden sheds at night. Some will even discreetly carry around personal rape alarms, and nearly everyone will lock their front door as they head out. However with the introduction of the internet and particularly social networking sites everyone has to be aware of what they are posting or signing in to, personal information can very easily be accessed if it is not controlled properly.

In recent events, sensitive material has been allowed to be published on the internet to the embarrassment of several top ranking officials, governments and even the Royal family, proving that no one is 100% safe.
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We all love to have a good time, no matter if it’s a school disco, a university Christmas bash or the annual works get together, the thought of going out and enjoying ourselves with friends always makes us excited. However, a sad fact of modern living is the presence of drugs, in a recent report it was said that ‘levels of cocaine use in England and Wales are now the highest in Europe‘, (source), this can often lead to drug wars over territory and selling rights.

Last year it was estimated that almost 14 million people had tried cocaine in Europe alone.

With the traditional Christmas party season just a few weeks away organisers, managers and club owners might be worried about the amount of trouble that may be caused due to uninvited violence.

Although gun and knife crime are falling there are still some people that carry these weapons around. One of the best ways to alleviate the threat of this type of violence from your premises is to have Handheld Metal Detectors which enables you to quickly scan each person as they enter your venue.

Hand held metal detectors are the perfect solution for determining whether a visitor, intruder, or suspicious stranger is carrying a concealed weapon. Keeping unwanted trouble out while keeping those safe from harm inside.

The latest crime figures have been released and according to the statistics, crime in England and Wales is down by 9% (source). Good news to hear that thefts, burglaries and fraud are all on a downward trend. But, just how honest are the figures? Like many statistics, they can be manipulated. For example, not all crime reported is included in the findings (serious crimes such as murder are excluded) then there are the crimes that also go unreported.

However, in saying all that, any drop in crime has to be a good thing. But, let’s not start leaving our front doors and windows open just yet, as we pop down to the local shops. We have to remember that there are some people out there that are only too happy to take advantage and WILL take what is not theirs.
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