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Mall robbery exposé

In the light of the trending Mall Robberies having moved to Cape Town, some of my friends and colleagues have been asking more and more how this can be happening?

I've seen posts expressing outrage, shock, horror and quite a bit of finger pointing in the direction of both SAPS and private mall security. Suggestions have flown around of putting armed guards inside shopping centres, installing metal detectors etc. Much of these, fuelled by a sense of hopelessness that these crimes take place so blatantly.

Recently I penned a few tips and suggestions on what to do if caught or witnessing a mall robbery. This of course elicited more questions and of course a raised eyebrow or two.

To put this all into context, let's take a moment to understand the preparation and thought that goes into a mall robbery from the ROBBERS perspective. It's not rocket science, it's not top-secret and it's not giving anyone ideas etc. Yes, I've left out a few critical details and steps that my friends in the trade will identify I'm sure (PLEASE don't add them in comments etc.!!!).

Given the available cctv footage, modus operandi and the information gathered around the recent spate of robberies, it appears (to me at least) to be conducted by a group with a good level of military training.

I say military because the thought processes involved which are evident in their actions are not taught within a policing environment. They're probably best described as Small Team Tactics.

Here's what would very loosely go into the planing and execution of a mall robbery on the scale which we've seen recently.
AGAIN - this is an exercise to broaden the mind and explain the flipside.. not a how-to by any means.

Suspect number 1 decides on a viable target or two that need to be looked at - or, is advised of a good target by a willing buyer for the soon to be stolen goods.
Suspect 1 positions himself so that he can visit the target area a month in advance to familiarise himself with it. He enlists the help of suspects 2,3 and 4 who will participate in the actual robbery. He will probably choose people he's worked with before or have the appropriate "credentials".

Recce

He now needs to enlist the assistance of suspects 5 and 6. These will be logistics and driving, they won't actually be in the mall taking part.
Suspects 1-4 may well perform a bank following or simple business robbery to get some cash at this stage to float the operation and of course to become familiar with each other and test their teamwork.

Suspects 5 and 6 will visit the mall and the surrounding area to familiarise themselves, spot camera positions, identify how many mall guards are there, what their shift changes are like and how alert they are. These are low key operators who will do groundwork including even reporting an attempted crime to the local police station to be friendly and ask about crime trends in the area, police response times and resources etc. Make no mistake, this critical field work has to be done as part of the planning phase.

With this information in hand, Suspect 1 will analyse the traffic flow, opening and closing times and day to day activities at the mall. He'll watch the exits and entrances for bottlenecks and see how smoothly cars can get in and out.

Once an entrance and escape route is decided on, it's time for logistics. The suspects will need 4 firearms and 4 cars. 2 cars can be stolen with number plates from matching year, model and color cars and two should be legitimately owned and borrowed from unsuspecting "accomplices". They will also acquire a couple of non-rica or anonymously rica'd stolen cellphones or cheap throw-aways. Nothing will be bought in any shop that has CCTV to prevent later detection.

Now this alone is risky. Suspects 1-6 know too much about the plan already to risk being caught stealing a car or buying a stolen gun. If they're caught at this stage, no matter how professional the risk is there that they may talk to get out of a short prison sentence. This brings in suspects 7 and 8. 7 & 8 will only know one member of the other 6 for internal security reasons. 7 & 8 will be tasked with getting the cars and weapons and delivering them to drop off points where 6 will collect them and make payment for the logistics.

Meanwhile, 5 and 6 are arranging short term accommodation for once the job is done, they'll rent something short term in hard cash and will avoid anything that would attract attention. City Lodges and Forumla 1 type accommodation is ideal for this. One will be the safe house to go to if the robbery goes well and the other a second location in case it doesn't. Good distance between the two and different selection criteria.

Rendezvous

On the night of the robbery, 1 and 2 will go close to the target driven by 5. 3 and 4 will move to the area driven by 6. They will come from different directions with checked and fully fueled vehicles driving the "borrowed" vehicles. They will rendezvous very briefly with 7 who will arrive in one of the "clone" vehicles with the weapons in it. 7 will join 6 and 1,2,3,4 will drive in the "clone" car to the target. the second "clone" car will travel a different route to the target and arrive shortly before them through a different entrance. They will position themselves to watch the entrance used by the 4 robbers and the exit that they will use. 6 and 7 will become the support vehicle.

The support vehicle is there to cover the escape of the robbers and neutralise anyone who interferes with the escape itself. This vehicle could have heavier weapons in it such as Ak47's, R5's etc. If funding and resources have allowed it they may even have a radio that picks up the police frequency (yes, even if it's on a frequency hopper).

When the robbers arrive at the location, they walk a few meters apart to the target, skirting around CCTV as far as possible, but never so blatantly as to make it obvious. They're dressed like anyone else in the mall and move quickly. They enter the store, are violent to the staff in the first 30 seconds to gain compliance and take what they came for. Suspect 1 stands at the door keeping an eye out while 2,3 and 4 are at work. But don't forget 5 and 8 - they could also be positioned in the mall to asssist if anyone tries to stop the robbery - an ambitious guard or an armed civilian for example.

As they make their exit to the waiting vehicle, they're covered by the remaining suspects. They leave at a reasonable speed to attract as little attention as possible. They travel no more than 5 kilometers from the robbery to one of the "borrowed" cars.

Weapons are transfered to the boot of a borrowed car which leaves with a single innocent looking driver to dispose of or secure them. The suspects break into pairs, one may just walk out of the area ambling along innocently - no weapons and no evidence on him having changed clothes. The others are in pairs now and the stolen goods leave in the second "borrowed" car with a single driver and suspect 1.

The suspects will all go in different directions and will only meet up again in a day or two when they will arrive separately at the safe house to get payment for their participation. Cars will be returned or dumped where they can be stolen by an opportunistic thief to make their trail harder to follow when that car is eventually found.

Bottom line

All along the way, this team has planned where they can get medical assistance from a nurse, paramedic, med-student etc. at a fee if necessary. They've planned alternate routes and places of safety where they can lie low for a day if need be. They've also planned who will engage a threat if someone tries to stop them and how and who will move in what order.

Ultimately, a retail robbery of let's say R 1000 000 of goods translates to about R250 000 on the black market at best. That has to be split between the team so although it's a "good haul" it's still not a huge payday. If the team isn't happy with the pay day, they may well move to another target that they've been assessing and do that as well while they're in the area to bump up their payday.

By now I'm sure you get the idea. Yes, they do and will go to this degree of planning. And yes, they ARE intelligent enough to do this.

The point is, how do the SAPS prevent this? How do security companies covering malls prevent this? What can be done? Well, honestly not much. After the fact detection and active intelligence are the keys to stopping these attacks before they happen or tracing suspects afterwards. Preventing the commission of them however isn't as simple as it sounds.

These guys are professional and will work around metal detectors if they're there, they're not phased by cameras and understand CCTV and it's weaknesses, they know how static guards work and what their limitations are and where the weak points are in their shift changes etc.
In terms of prevention, the best prevention strategies are for Malls to randomise many of their security functions so that patterns aren't apparent. To change the security head count day to day and at random. To vary entrance and exit protocols and move cameras around (although this is costly)

Bottom line - if a mall in SA is targeted by an organised crew with a solid plan, good contingencies, adequate logistics and excellent internal security, then there is precious little that can be done to prevent what they have in mind. It's sad but it's true.

Mall security is about doing your best to make sure that nobody gets hurt in the commission of the crime and that as much information as possible is available afterwards for solid investigation and follow up to apprehend the suspects. Even the best teams make mistakes and leave traces :)

This folks, is why it's understandable that average Joe Citizen is outraged at how these things happen etc. but also why it is wholly unfair and unreasonable to lay the blame at the feet of local law enforcement and mall security.

Comments welcome as always, please keep them civil - and again, if you are in the trade or in the know on UTM etc. PLEASE do not fill in the blanks here.
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