Shooting and Commerce: Market Consequences of the Caravan Tragedy
An emergency in “Caravan” is a clear signal that something is wrong in the Ukrainian shopping and entertainment centers with a security system, and the article on these operating costs should be reviewed. But the problem is not only safety costs.
After the bloody reprisal against four security guards at the “Caravan” shopping center, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced its intention to initiate an increase in training requirements for employees of private security companies. According to the Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaliy Zakharchenko, today, first of all, we need to talk about the qualified training of the guards and about clear legislative norms that govern their actions. “The guard must know what he should do when he detains the offender,” the minister said.
Indeed, frequently recurring situations dull the attention of security personnel working in supermarkets. Facing dozens of small thieves every day, the guards develop a certain stereotype and, accordingly, there is no mechanism for waiting for serious danger and counteraction.
According to Taras Polulyakh, a partner of Astra Business Consulting, at the moment, the owners of the trading companies have faced an acute question of how to ensure the safety of visitors and staff. According to his forecasts, professional training and motivation of security officers will begin to pay much more attention than now. In the meantime, the rules of tactical behavior of security activities in non-specialized companies are almost not taught.
Leaky Security
On October 18, a law came into force that intends to regulate the work of security companies. Only from this day, representatives of security companies began to differ in rights from ordinary visitors to the shopping center and shopping center - now they have the opportunity to carry traumatic weapons. These innovations are not relevant to employees of the internal security service, whose services are preferred by retailers and owners of shopping and entertainment centers.
Representatives of specialized companies predict that the case in "Caravan" and the new law will increase the demand for security services. In addition, close attention from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to gaps in the work of retailer security services may spur the security services market to redistribution.
About 4,800 licenses have been issued in Ukraine to engage in security services
According to the CEO of Maratex in Ukraine (developing fashion networks of Esprit, Aldo, Orsay, River Island, etc.), Dmitry Ermolenko, the situation in “Caravan” is a clear signal for the fact that in Ukrainian shopping and entertainment centers with a security system something is wrong, and the line item for these operating costs needs to be reviewed.
The question, however, is what exactly should this money go to. A banal increase in salaries to the guards will not solve the problem.
“In my opinion, it makes sense to invest more in the electronic technical equipment of security systems (since this will allow us to respond more quickly to emergency situations) and in the reorganization of the security service. In commercial facilities of a large crowd of people, it really requires radical restructuring. The idea of “pinning to supermarkets” by the policeman is not without meaning. The question is, in what form and in what form should the representative of law enforcement agencies be present in the shopping center so as not to scare away visitors. Today it’s worth considering, ”says Dmitry Ermolenko.
The deputy director of one of the capital's shopping centers, Alexei Khlyupchenko, believes that representatives of law enforcement agencies in the shopping center are definitely not needed. “By providing paid services, the police at that moment lose their objectivity. For her, the sale and promotion of her own services becomes more important. The leading European security experts with whom we have consulted say that this is absolutely impossible, ”he says.
Some retailers generally believe that it is not worth drawing far-reaching conclusions from the case in “Caravan”, let alone inflating the article of these expenses. “We are not going to increase security costs. Such an incident could have happened anywhere: in a trolleybus, restaurant, in the bazaar, just on the street, ”said a leading specialist in the public relations development department of PJSC Retail Group (Velika Kyshenya, TC Alta-center, Equator) , "Velmart") Elena Razumova.
Quantity versus Quality
State law enforcement services, of course, are not averse to making money on guarding commercial facilities, but they are unlikely to succeed in attaching a policeman to each supermarket. The main task of the police is the fight against crime and crime prevention, and not the protection of outlets. In addition, by decision of the president, the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was reduced from 400 thousand to 300 thousand people, while the number of public security services is about 25 thousand people. For comparison: the number involved in the commercial security sector in Ukraine is about 500 thousand people.
According to the president of the Ukrainian Federation of Security Professionals Sergey Shabovty, it is precisely because of such a large number of troubles of the security market. To date, about 4800 licenses have been issued in our country, allowing you to engage in services in the field of security activities.
Of these, only 150-200 companies provide normal quality. Paradoxically, but massively stamping licenses, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not responsible for the quality of private security services. For example, about 1300 security companies work in Kiev alone, of which only 70-100 structures provide truly high-quality services.
The rest survive mainly due to price dumping. According to the estimates of the Ukrainian Federation of Security Professionals, the cost of a daily guard post starts from 12–13 thousand UAH per month. However, firms agree to work for 7-8 thousand UAH per month, not particularly caring about the quality of the services provided. Owners of businesses that pay for the services of security companies, in turn, cannot understand at all what they actually pay for, and choose a more reasonable option, in their opinion, namely their own security service.
What is regulated by the Law on Security Activities?
The law applies exclusively to security companies and does not apply to the activities of security departments of enterprises. Thus, the work of a security guard in a supermarket, factory, warehouse, etc., if this is not a hired representative of a security company, is outside this law. It is possible that in the future, it is under this pretext that business entities can impose the services of security companies on a voluntary basis.
According to the law, security activities are subject to licensing. But licensing conditions and the procedure for control over their implementation are absent in the document. State regulatory bodies in this area have identified the Cabinet of Ministers and the central authority in the field of security activities (MIA). The latter will also approve licensing conditions and control procedures, issue and revoke licenses, monitor compliance with the law and licensing conditions, etc.
What is allowed to the guard
The good news is that the legislator tried to protect security companies from participating in raider attacks. When carrying out security activities, it is forbidden, in particular, to participate in the execution of court decisions and apply actions aimed at violent confrontation between security personnel of different business entities.
The law also provides for compulsory training and advanced training of security guards. However, it is not said who should teach them how. The rights and duties of security guards are registered. In particular, they should wear signs of belonging to their security company on clothing and carry a certificate with the signature of the head of the company and a seal. But the law does not spell out the duty of the security guard to introduce himself and present his certificate upon request. “This circumstance restricts the rights of individuals to appeal against unlawful actions of the guard during physical exposure and the use of special equipment by the guards,” said Alexander Goroshinsky, managing partner of Goroshinsky and Partners Law Firm.
In the performance of duties, the guard has, in particular, the right to monitor compliance with the access control regime at the facility. At the same time, he is allowed to inspect the things of individuals, but with the voluntary consent of the latter, as well as to seize prohibited things. The guard may detain unauthorized persons entering the facility. But after the arrest, he must immediately report this to the internal affairs bodies. Also immediately and in any way it is necessary to inform the police about the commission of a crime or an administrative offense.
Armed and dangerous
The law enshrines the right of the subject of security activities to purchase and store special funds, the list of which will be determined by the CMU. Also, a separate section is devoted to the use of physical means and dogs. Animals can be used only trained "in the established order", and only to detect illegally entering the object. Special equipment is allowed to be used, in particular, in cases of: protecting oneself or another person from attack; preventing attempts to violently seize this very tool; the need to detain the opposing intruder; neutralization of animals that threaten the life and health of people.
“Special equipment can now be applied not only to a criminal trying to escape, but also to any other offender who illegally entered a guarded object, as well as to immobilize animals that threaten protection,” says Alexander Goroshinsky. The law also regulates cases when the use of special equipment is prohibited, namely: to pregnant women, pensioners, disabled people and minors, except in cases of their attack with a life threat.
Physical means are used only after warning by voice or gesture. But the "whistle" does not have to whistle three times in cases of a surprise attack or attack with a weapon. It is also determined here that the detention of a person by a security guard is not administrative, which, however, is understandable, and the detainee is urgently transferred to the police. But the criterion of urgency and the method of transfer of the offender are not defined.
“In general, the adoption of this law is a positive factor, as it improves and details the legal regulation of security activities, which reduces the likelihood of abuse by security personnel,” says Alexander Goroshinsky. However, the authors of the law themselves are already preparing amendments to it. Obviously, a document regulating a whole sphere of economic activity and consisting of less than ten pages needs to be detailed. In the meantime, it seems that the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Internal Affairs at their own discretion will deal with the interpretation of the norms of the law.