SAFECROWDS has become the first security company in the UK to offer spiking substances detection as part of our K9 capabilities, launching the new service during the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) National Week of Action on Spiking (16-22 September).
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 government statistics, more than 500 spiking incidents are reported to police every month, and the reality is that the real figure is probably much higher, because the symptoms of spiking are often similar to drunkenness.
As a company, we offer drug, expo and pyro detection services, with NASDU certified dogs and handlers, along with general purpose security dog services. Our 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 Wayne’s company, Inter K9, and he is the only trainer in the UK to have created such a specialised course, demonstrating his commitment to leading the way in this area. Wayne trains dogs using real scents, and he has now trained SAFECROWDS first spiking substances detection dogs, enabling us to add this to our K9 services.
Our CEO Rory McGoldrick, has worked in the security industry for more than 20 years and has seen first-hand the impact of spiking on victims and businesses.
He comments: “Spiking can turn a dream night out into a nightmare in minutes and victims often have no idea what’s 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.
“The 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 we’re really pleased to be able to offer this service – it could go a long way to protect people from spiking and the consequences of being spiked.”
K9 detection services are a core element of the SAFECROWDS business. We’re currently working towards NCTAS-P certification. Both our CEO, Rory McGoldrick and Operations Director, Vicki Hearn, are NASDU certified dog handlers and the dogs are regularly put through their paces thanks to our dog detection contracts with varied bars, nightclubs, music venues and stadiums.
Rory adds: “Security 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.”
