Author: Dr Martin Gill
ISBN No: 1-84174-150-7
Review date: 16/12/2025
No of pages: 206
Publisher: Blackstone Press
Year of publication:
Brief:
'I spent a lot of time with robbers,' Dr Martin Gill admits at the start of his insightful and important book Commercial Robbery.
‘I spent a lot of time with robbers,’ Dr Martin Gill admits at the start of his insightful and important book Commercial Robbery, ‘and they provided very helpful insights into the ways they approach robbery and other crimes. They were sometimes amazed that no-one had asked them before.’ So am I. If organisations know they are at risk of violence and theft – and pay a fair whack for security products and services – it makes business sense to know more about the robbers. What makes them pick one target rather than another, how do they plan, what puts them off? It makes sense for security managers to know more about the enemy, if you like. Why so little attention, particularly from academics, to crooks? That’s an interesting question in itself, but let’s stick to Dr Gill’s book. In a line, Dr Gill suggests that robbers see the following as bad places to rob: in a one-way street, near a police station, with a revolving door, a counter a long way from the door and obstructions such as queue rails, besides CCTV, screens and alarms.
In it for the money
Why do bank and building society robbers do it? For the money – and that includes not just champagne and drugs, or the mortgage, but funding legitimate projects, such as property investment and small businesses. Dr Gill unearths the interesting point in our media-driven world where the TV can do no wrong that ‘some robbers admitted that they had received ideas from the media, not just about whether to commit a robbery but also about the best way of carrying it out … Indeed, factual television crime shows, ironically often designed to help catch offenders, were most likely to be influential in this way. The British television series Crimewatch was mentioned frequently.’ Dr Gill went on Radio 4’s Friday afternoon programme The Message on this subject, to be fair, but the BBC is hardly owning up to the fact that Crimewatch (for all we know) is doing more harm than good. Crimewatch boasts of fighting crime, yet it could well be that it is a net contributor to crime in the UK (Dr Gill puts it in a somewhat more measured way).
Watch out – all the time
Dr Gill gets really interesting when he reveals how convicted robbers plan and what they look for. The gist is that there need not be that much preparation; many robberies are done on the day; cash in transit robbers, feeling it’s a tougher target, are more likely to do surveillance than softer targets such as (say) off-licences. Mates and relatives unwittingly pass on tips when they talk of slack security at their workplace. Robbers speak of the escape route as important; they want to avoid customers (potential witnesses or have-a-go-heroes), and getting caught. That may include knowing the security measures and how far away the police station is. ‘Different robbers see different advantages in certain locations,’ Dr Gill points out – a busy but clear main road is ideal if the escape is by car; if escape is on foot, a pedestrianised street may be ideal. <br><br><strong>
Smile – you’re on camera?</strong><br><br>
‘Generally robbers dismissed CCTV frequently citing poor quality images,’ Dr Gill writes, though a few of his interviewees admitted that they had been caught on camera and captured as a result. Disguises are popular, such as hats and glasses. Security screens sound better value for money; if staff have faith in the strength of the screen, and robbers are not out to take hostages, if the cashier refuses to hand over anything, robbers felt they had little choice but to leave. On the other hand, they may increase the amount of violence used to ensure the robbery is a success – bearing in mind we have already learned that robbers want to avoid confrontation with anybody.<br><br><strong>
Highlights</strong><br><br>
This is a book that is difficult to boil down because so much of it is fascinating, even gripping: a real eavesdrop into the head of convicted robbers. (You could argue that these are only the robbers we know about, and that it’s be even better to hear from the robbers at large; also, can we take totally as gospel what the robbers told Dr Gill – but that’s quibbling.) <br><br></strong>Other real eye-openers include:</strong><br><br>
there’s costs and benefits in the widest sense to all security measures – for example, screens may put off the robber, but may also put off the honest customer.<br>
Robbers carry weapons to REDUCE the chances of injury – only a minority use violence to intimidate, although ‘taking control of the environment’ is a priority for the robbers. Guns are easy to come by illegally. Robbers fear the unpredictable – they can’t control it and it could mean they get caught.<br><br>
Robbers have some misplaced ideas; they underestimate the trauma of the victims – some of the criminals even said that robberies brightened up victims? otherwise dull lives! – and underestimate the effectiveness of the police. (A suitable subject for Crimewatch?!)
That said, most robbers are rational – whether they’re amateurs or professionals who act thoroughly and thoughtfully, they make some rational choices. That suggests, as Dr Gill puts it in his concluding comments, ‘there is potential for appropraitely applied measure to make a robbery less likely’. Earlier, there?s a very significant diagram, ‘the crime risk management process in the context of the workplace? suggesting actions by managers (such as vetting staff, stimulating confidence) and ‘situational techniques’ (such as controlling access, and redesigning the environment indoors and out).<br><br><strong>
Conclusions</strong><br><br>
Little things – an L-shaped premises that does not allow a single robber to view counter and door – may be more off-putting to a robber than an expensive CCTV system, screens and alarms. If you ever wanted to know why people do robberies, head straight for chapter five, for four case studies or robbers. Much of it sounds depressing – ‘I’d wake up in the morning without any money, so I’d go to a shop, wait until there were no passers-by and then steam in’. It’s a world of inside jobs and heavies protecting estate shops that put the price of protection down to ‘stolen goods’. But security and risk assessment managers are not politicians or social workers. Dr Gill’s book – one of the most gripping academic books you could hope to find – does not offer definite answers. Screens and automatic doors that can lock have their merits, but are fraught with danger – they could lead to hostage-taking and more violence than even the robber wants. Above all, Dr Gill’s book gives the security manager ammunition in the fight against the bad – often drug-addicted, cowardly and insecure – guys. There’s a big debate here that needs airing and that needs solid data, and Dr Gill has done us a great service by doing such thorough and informed research in the under-researched field of security.<br><br>
Commercial Robbery, by Dr Martin Gill, published by Blackstone Press, £19.95, paperback, 206 pages. ISBN: 1-84174-150-7. See <a href="www.blackstonepress.com" target="_blank">. >www.blackstonepress.com</a> For Dr Gill’s workplace, the Scarman Centre at Leicester University, see <a href="www.le.ac.uk/scarman" target="_blank">www.le.ac.uk/scarman</a>.
