The security contractor SAFECROWDS says that it’s become the first security company in the UK to offer spiking substances detection as part of its K9 (canine) services. Its launch is during the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) National Week of Action on Spiking (September 16 to 22).
The firm says that spiking has become a significant issue for the night-time economy, with difficult to detect substances putting people at risk of assault and exploitation due to having their drink spiked on a night out. According to official figures, more than 500 spiking incidents are reported to police every month, and the reality is that the real figure is probably much higher, the firm suggests, because the symptoms of spiking are often similar to drunkenness.
SAFECROWDS offers drug, expo and pyro detection services, with NASDU certified dogs and handlers, along with general purpose security dog services. The companyโs Head of K9 Training and Operations, Wayne Gell, is the first detection dog trainer in the UK to have developed the techniques required to train dogs to indicate spiking substances. The spiking training is delivered by Wayneโs company, Inter K9, and he is the only trainer in the UK to have created such a specialised course. Wayne trains dogs using real scents, and he has now trained SAFECROWDS first spiking substances detection dogs, enabling the security company to add this service.
CEO of SAFECROWDS, Rory McGoldrick, has worked in the security industry for more than 20 years and says he has seen the impact of spiking on victims and businesses. He says: โSpiking can turn a dream night out into a nightmare in minutes and victims often have no idea whatโs happened to them. Bars and nightclubs are vigilant to the dangers and there have been lots of information campaigns to raise awareness of the risks, but these substances can be difficult to detect, and the perpetrators have a completely different profile to drug dealers.
โThe work Wayne has done in developing dog training techniques specifically to enable dogs to detect spiking substances is potentially transformative for the night-time economy, and weโre really pleased to be able to offer this service โ it could go a long way to protect people from spiking and the consequences of being spiked.โ
SAFECROWDS adds that it’s working towards UK official NCTAS-P certification. CEO Rory McGoldrick and Operations Director Vicki Hearn are NASDU certified dog handlers and the dogs are regularly put through their paces in dog detection contracts with bars, nightclubs, music venues and stadiums.
Rory adds: โSecurity and counter terrorism threats are constantly evolving, and spiking has become an increasingly serious problem, so we are helping our clients take proactive action to identify any criminal activity and keep people safer.โ
Visit www.safecrowds.co.uk.
