Clearview National April 2020 - Issue 221 | Page 63

HARDWAREEXTRA
A glimpse behind the (crime) scenes
Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs) from three police forces have
been given a glimpse behind the scenes during a visit to ASSA ABLOY’s
largest manufacturing site in the UK at Willenhall, West Midlands.
» THE DOCOS FROM POLICE FORCES
in Cheshire, West Mercia and West Midlands
were given a guided tour around the factory
to see and learn how a wide range of locks,
cylinders and keys are made.
They also watched a demonstration of how
a door is put through its paces as part of the
PAS 24 standard using tools ranging from a
screwdriver to a hefty ram – similar to those
used by police officers carrying out raids on
domestic properties.
The visit was organised by Secured by
Design (SBD), a police organisation which
works alongside police forces around the UK,
to ‘build in’ security measures and techniques
into new and refurbished buildings in a
wide range of sectors including residential,
education, health, transportation, commercial
and sport and leisure.
More than one million homes have been
built to SBD’s crime prevention standards over
the last 20 years with reductions in crime of
up to 87% in new homes.
DOCOs, who are mostly based in police
stations, work with designers, architects,
developers and local planning authorities
to incorporate crime prevention measures
from the initial concept and planning stages
through to final construction.
‘we’re proud to work
closely with the experts
from Secured by Design
to design out crime’
ASSA ABLOY specialises in door opening
solutions. It operates in more than 70
countries with over 48,000 employees.
Customers come from the institutional,
commercial and residential marketplaces.
The site visit focused on two of ASSA
ABLOY’s key brands Yale and Mul-T-Lock.
The visit included a demonstration in the
factory’s dedicated residential showroom of
Yale’s range of mobile phone app controlled
smart, interconnected security products,
including door locks, alarms and CCTV
cameras.
There was also a presentation from Suresh
Peri, Commercial & Technical Manager, of
Mul-T-Lock, who explained their innovative
eCLIQ technology, which allows both the
granting and removing of access permissions
remotely – an advanced system, which
won Product of the Year at the National
Locksmith Awards in December 2019.
Visiting the ASSA ABLOY Portobello site
at School Street, Willenhall, West Midlands
were Alison Gabbott, Mark Cotton and Colin
Marples from Cheshire; Peter Aston and
Jacqueline Godfrey-Hunt from West Mercia;
and Adrian Bartlett from West Midlands.
Also attending was Richard Waterhouse from
Bromsgrove and Redditch Council.
Hazel Goss, SBD Development Officer,
(pictured centre front above) who arranged
the visit, said: “We all had an amazing day
at ASSA ABLOY, learning about what they
do, seeing their new products and enjoying a
factory tour. Their factory and operations are
on such a huge and impressive scale. It’s great
to see at first-hand how everything comes
together to make the final products.
“On behalf of the Designing Out Crime
Officers, I want to say a big thank you to the
company for their time and hospitality. I am
looking forward to arranging another visit
for those Designing Out Crime Officers who
unfortunately were unable to come on this
occasion.”
‘More than one million
homes have been built to
SBD’s crime prevention
standards over the last
20 years with reductions
in crime of up to 87%
in new homes’
ASSA ABLOY’s Martin Ward, Mechanical
Senior Product Manager-Yale UK, said: “Yale
are committed to developing products that
keep our customers, and their properties,
safe. That’s why we’re proud to work closely
with the experts from Secured by Design
to design out crime. We welcomed the
opportunity to show them the measures we
have in place and the exciting plans we have
for the future.
“We’d like to thank Secured by Design for
taking the time to visit our site at Portobello
and for their continued efforts to keep our
homes safe with stringent security measures.
We strive to continue to design and
manufacture products that meet these high
standards and carry the Secured by Design
accreditation.”
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