October 2006 - On Tuesday 10th October Letterkenny Chamber in association with An Garda Siochana held a Crime Prevention Seminar in Letterkenny Shopping Centre. The event is part of the Business Watch Initiative which has been growing successfully over the past 18 months.

50 delegates attended the event which was addressed by Detective Sgt. Matt Sheridan from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation; Sgt. Maurice Mc Walters from the Scenes of Crime Unit in Donegal; Sean Carlin from IBEC Retail Skillnet and Joanne Sweeney from Letterkenny Chamber who gave delegates an update on the CCTV system for the town.

Delegates at the Crime Seminar

Supt. Peadar Kearney of Letterkenny Garda Station described the current climate of crime as "very challenging." However, he commented that the current Business Watch Scheme in Letterkenny, the only one in the County, was going some way to alleviating the crime pressures on the business community. He appealed to all businesses to work together on preventing crime and to join Business Watch, a free service offered by the Chamber.

Det. Sgt. Sheridan enlightened delegates on the fraud associated with credit cards, cheque and cash. New forms of scams are now prevalent in Ireland including phishing which happens on line when a person or persons purports to be financial institution looking for your bank details. According to Det. Sgt. Sheridan, nobody should ever give their personal details over the internet. A number of security companies exhibited their crime prevention products on the night and many new security systems were displayed.

Full details of the exhibiting companies are below:

• Swift Security - 074-9128058 tony@swiftsecurity.ie
• Orbit Security - 074-9128989, orbit@ireland.com
• CK Locksmiths - 074-9122094, conal@cklocksmiths.com
• Speers Locksmiths - 074-9126255, info@speer.ie
• Mac Security - 074-9167280 shopalert@eircom.net
• North West Alarms - 074-9721687 nwa@eircom.net
• B-Secure - 1890 273287 info@b-secure.ie, www.b-secure.ie
• Sheridan Security Systems - 074-9126025, sheridansecurity1@eircom.net
• Smokescreen - 004477 11762688, ejcanavan@smoke-screen.co.uk www.smoke-screen.co.uk
• Sentry Posts Ltd - 04892-692113, ianferguson@sentryposts.co.uk

The Private Security Authority can be contacted by visiting www.psa.gov.ie This new statutory organization is responsible for regulating the private security industry. Anne Walsh is the North West's representative, and she can be contacted at abwalsh@psa.gov.ie or by calling 062 31588.

To join Business Watch email Joanne@letterkennychamber.com