Excellence in crime prevention celebrated at Raid-control awards

Award winner Kim Guthrie (right) with  Deputy Chief Constable Andy Parker of Warwickshire Police (left)

Excellence in crime prevention was celebrated at the Annual Raid-control Awards dinner held by BSIA on Thursday 7th May. Three awards were presented to individuals for their "Outstanding achievement in promoting the Raid-control concept."

Raid-control Chairman, John Birkenshaw, comments: "Raid-control is proud to honour this year's award winners. Without the hard work of Raid-control members, retailers across the UK would not be benefiting from a considerably reduced risk of robbery. Each of our winners thoroughly deserve their awards and I congratulate them on their success."

The award winners are as follows:

Kim Guthrie, IBP

Kim's contribution to Raid-control has been outstanding, going that extra mile in assisting several police forces getting started with Raid-control and representing Raid-control at exhibitions and events. Kim has recently led on a project which will enable retailers to utilise smoke-dye systems in cigarette gantries, tackling an emerging type of robbery for the retail sector.

Sandra Hodgkinson, Greater Manchester Police

Over the past four years, Sandra has assumed responsibility for promoting Raid-control in the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) area and has done so with great enthusiasm and ability. Not only has she shown an understanding of exactly how Raid-control should be promoted, but has assisted several of her GMP colleagues in implementing the initiative in their divisional areas. In addition, Sandra regularly receives visits from other police forces that are considering adopting Raid-control and assists them in getting started.

Award winner Mike Braddock (right) is presented with his award by Alan Townsend, Raid-control President

Mike Braddock, Secure Options Group

Mike has been involved with Raid-control from the outset and has been a regular supporter of the initiative over the years. He participated in developing the initiative and more recently agreed to allow his financial director become the Secretary/Treasurer of Raid-control. One of Mike's major contributions was entering the till protection market by which means his company helped reduce the overall cost of the product across the board, enabling greater numbers of retailers to adopt Raid-control in their premises.

The awards were presented by Deputy Chief Constable Andy Parker of Warwickshire Police, who expressed his support of Raid-control and the value of such partnerships not only to retailers, but to the community at large.