Feral Jundi

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Company Spotlight: Mountain Men Security–A Crime Fighting, Man Tracking PSC

The development of Mountain Men’s Special Response Team (SRT) was as a result of an increase in home invasions, armed robberies and violent crime. Our SRT members are all trained man trackers and have the ability to track suspects who flee a crime scene. This is very helpful in areas where there are vast tracts of land, mountainous terrain and forests or green belts. These members have made a huge dent in criminal operations in the areas where they have been deployed. Together with specialized units of the South African Police Service, we have arrested armed robbers, wanted suspects, house breakers and recovered hundreds of thousands of rands worth of stolen property.
Our Armed Response Units and Protection Services Units all interact with our SRT members which makes us a formidable force in the fight against crime. We have made in excess of 2 640 arrests over the past 12 years, averaging 18 arrests per month for serious crimes.

The other day I was perusing Facebook and checking out some news with some of my readers and friends. One reader’s page I like to check out from time to time is David Scott-Donelan’s. He posted a picture from a trip to South Africa awhile back and talked about a private security company that he helped train in tactical tracking. That company is Mountain Men Security, and what they have done with that training is truly amazing.

Basically this company is providing a security service and a tracking service in conjunction with the South African Police. They are working together in a public/private partnership, and MMS’s is providing the hunters.

These hunters are called the SRT or special response team, and they are using the skills David taught them to track down criminals.  In the video below, you get a sample of what they are doing. I thought this was awesome, and this company deserves to be in my ‘company spotlight’ category.

In the past I discussed the value of tracking to security contractors, military and police. Groups like Koevoet or the Selous Scouts made great use of tracking to locate criminals or enemies. You hear of military or police forces using these skills from time to time, but a private security company using these skills is just rare and very cool. It is also producing results and making their services valuable to the local community.

So bravo to Mountain Men Security for making those skills work for them. Best of all, you can see their arrests made on the front of the website. The community they are protecting can actually see the value, and know that if a criminal is on the loose, these guys will soon be hunting them down. –Matt

 

The Scott-Donelan Tracking School website here.

Mountain Men Security website here.

 

The history of Mountain Men Security

In 1998 former South African Police Force Murder and Robbery detective, Allan Dillon, retired police officer, Patrick Freeman, and friend, Billy Bownes, began conducting neighbourhood crime prevention duties in the Lakeside area in their spare time as a result of an increase in criminal activities in the Lakeside area. With their combined police experience and good knowledge of the area, criminals were being apprehended whilst breaking into houses and motor vehicles and soon the community were calling the three crime fighters “The Mountain Men”.
This subsequently led to the formation of a security company which has grown from three persons patrolling Lakeside on bicycles and conducting observation duties from the mountain above Lakeside to a structured security company with 70 plus employees, a 24 hour control room which monitors alarm systems, dispatches our own armed response vehicles, monitors CCTV live and on event activations, as well as interfaces between SAPS, Metro Police, National Parks Board, Neighbourhood watches and members of the public.
As the face of crime continued to change in South Africa so did our approach to protecting our community and clients. We soon realized that an armed response service on its own is a reactive service and is in fact your last line of defence, not your first. We implemented crime fighting strategies and relooked at the way in which crime was being fought in our areas of operation.
The development of Mountain Men’s Special Response Team (SRT) was as a result of an increase in home invasions, armed robberies and violent crime. Our SRT members are all trained man trackers and have the ability to track suspects who flee a crime scene. This is very helpful in areas where there are vast tracts of land, mountainous terrain and forests or green belts. These members have made a huge dent in criminal operations in the areas where they have been deployed. Together with specialized units of the South African Police Service, we have arrested armed robbers, wanted suspects, house breakers and recovered hundreds of thousands of rands worth of stolen property.
Our Armed Response Units and Protection Services Units all interact with our SRT members which makes us a formidable force in the fight against crime. We have made in excess of 2 640 arrests over the past 12 years, averaging 18 arrests per month for serious crimes.
Our K9 Unit with a tracking dog has given us great results and has leveraged our manpower in the fight against crime. Presently we are expanding this unit.
As we move forward into the future we continue to embrace technology and raise the standard of training of our officers. We continue to offer our clients and the communities where we work an innovative and results based security service. TODAY, AN ARMED RESPONSE SERVICE ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
Company website here.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Somalia: Puntland Suspends Contract With Saracen International Due To UN And US Pressure

 

This was to be expected. What I would be interested in is what kind of sweet deal or alternative did the US or UN offer, to get Puntland to suspend this contract?  Also this was ‘suspend’ and not canceled, which is equally significant. Perhaps some kind of military mission through AFRICOM is the alternative? –Matt

Somalia’s Puntland suspends security contractors

March 17, 2011

By ABDI GULED

Somalia’s northern region of Puntland has suspended a controversial deal with a private security firm contracted to train an anti-piracy force, two government officials said Thursday.

Saracen International was hired to train 1,050 men in Puntland to battle the pirates that menace shipping off Somalia’s coast.

(more…)

Friday, March 4, 2011

Cool Stuff: The Control Risks CEO Blog

     Now this is what I like to see!  The smart company is one that can apply effective strategic communications to their specific market.  This is just one tool that can help you to achieve that kind of communications.

     It is also a way for companies to correct the record or express views on a constantly changing market and world. From business owners/bloggers like Tim Lynch of Free Range International to CEO Eeben Barlow of Executive Outcomes fame, blogs are an excellent tool for both that individual to set the record straight or to attract new business for whatever projects they are working on.

     This simple act also gives potential clients and researchers information that will further help them to make better choices or to create more factual publications/articles. Bravo to Control Risks and CEO Richard Fenning for setting this up and this blog is definitely on my Google RSS Reader. –Matt

Hello and welcome to my blog

December 8, 2010

By Richard Fenning

The aim of this blog is to provide you with an informed perspective, as well as personal observations, on the complex and dynamic challenges faced by ambitious organisations operating on a global stage fraught with risk.

This first blog outlines some of the key global trends that will characterise 2011 and beyond. Urbanisation and mega-cities, the worldwide enforcement of anti-corruption legislation and the dominance of China will all have an impact on global business in the year ahead.

It is easy to feel a sense of weariness when contemplating all these challenges. In part, with good reason; the world can seem perilous and increasingly fragile. And at Control Risks, it can be all too easy to see the world through an excessively risk–shaped prism. Like doctors who think the world is full of sick people, and dentists who must feel that there is nothing else to life than crumbling molars, we encounter some of the most hazardous predicaments on a daily basis. So, in this blog I hope to demonstrate that as well as complexity and hostility, our world is more full of opportunity, and occasional bursts of optimism, than ever before in the planet’s history.

Control Risks CEO Bio

Richard Fenning is the Chief Executive Officer of Control Risks. Before becoming CEO, Richard held a number of other roles with Control Risks including Chief Operating Officer, head of the New York office and Business Development Director. He is a regular speaker on how geo-political risk can impact a company’s operations and on the role of the private sector in fragile and post-conflict states. Richard is also a director of emergency medical relief charity, Merlin.

Link to blog here.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Legal News: Fitzsimons Gets Life Sentence In Iraq, Escaping Hanging

     Interesting verdict. Thanks to Carmen for giving me the heads up on this story and this is hopefully the final chapter on a very tragic incident.

     This is also significant because this is the first Western contractor to be prosecuted and convicted of a crime in Iraq. –Matt

UK contractor gets life sentence in Iraq, escaping hanging

February 28, 2011

An Iraqi judge sentenced a British contractor to life in prison Monday, sparing him the death penalty.

Daniel Fitzsimons, 30, was charged with murder in the 2009 shooting deaths of two colleagues in Baghdad, in the first trial of a Westerner in Iraq since the Iraq War started in 2003.

He pleaded not guilty, telling a three-judge panel that he shot the two men in self-defense.

The judge who sentenced him said he didn’t give him the death penalty “because you’re still young and because of the circumstances of the crime,” he said.

Fitzsimons smiled and thanked the judge when he heard the verdict Monday.

The victims were Paul McGuigan, a British national, and Darren Hoare, an Australian. Fitzsimons was also accused of the attempted murder of a guard.

(more…)

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Industry Talk: The Booming Private Security Industries Of Pakistan And India

     Below I have posted two snapshots of the private security industries in Pakistan and India. In a nutshell, those industries are exploding with growth. In Pakistan, terrorism is the driver of this increase. In India it is a combination of economic expansion along with terrorism as the drivers.

     Of course Pakistan and India are very mistrustful of one another, and there is also the growth of their defense industries to meet the needs of their militaries. Interesting stuff and definitely an area to keep a watch on. –Matt

Boom in Pakistan’s private security industry

January 18, 2011

Pakistan’s deteriorating  law and order has led to a boom in the private security industry in the country. Companies are investing millions of dollars to train and update their security operations.

 An estimated 30,000 private security guards have found employment with 400 private security agencies that have sprung up in Pakistan in recent years. These guards are paid about ten thousand Pakistani rupees a month… well above the minimum wage of six thousand.

Specialist security guards and bodyguards make around 25 thousand rupees.

Training includes special focus on the deadliest of enemies, the suicide bomber. Iqbal Mahmood, the trainer at Security 2000 explains how to look for one. “If someone is draped in white dress, particularly resembling a white shroud is a sign that the person has come ready to die. This is usually the first sign, secondly when the body looks a bit out of proportions; particularly the chest is raised higher than a normal human being is another give away sign that this person might be a suicide bomber,” says Mahmood.

The security industry in Pakistan is worth around 60 million dollars a year. Visit any luxury hotel in Pakistan and you’ll see where the money is being spent.

Zahid Shah, Security Manager at Pearl Continental Hotel says, “We have tried to maintain and standardise our security arrangements by beefing up this location with various kinds of systems, there can be hydraulic blockers, there are electronic barriers, there are sniffer dogs, besides of course the manual arrangements which is comprising of the security guards and the supervisors that we have.”

Story here.

——————————————————————-

Booming private security agencies seek PE funding

Paramita Chatterjee & Pramugdha Mamgain

18 Jan, 2011

As rapid economic expansion creates a booming market for private security services, small and mid-sized companies in the sector are seeking risk capital infusion to further expansion plans. Growing public infrastructure in the form of roads, airports, shopping malls and commercial complexes has triggered a boom in the market for security services that is expected to grow five-fold to reach a size of 30,000 crore by 2015.

(more…)

Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress