AIF Launch Scheme To Tackle Festival Crime

The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), the body launched this summer to represent independent music festivals, has announced the formation of a Security Task Force, a new initiative to address the issue of tent thefts and campsite crime at festivals.With just a small number of criminal gangs acknowledged as responsible for the majority of on-site theft, the new Task Force will allow festival organisers to better share intelligence and effectively target the gangs involved.The Task Force will maintain a constant presence at participating festivals, working with event security companies and police services throughout the UK to identify known thieves before they enter festival sites. They will support and build on existing police initiatives, which have proven the benefit of intelligence-pooling in reducing tent theft. Extra teams will be on hand on busy weekends with multiple festivals.Jim King, director of Loud Sound and AIF board member said: “Whilst still statistically low, thefts at UK festivals have to be addressed. Customer experience and safety is a most important part of the whole festival experience and we want to act to ensure that customers have a great time at our events without experiencing the upsetting scenario of being a victim of crime.”Although the security task force is an AIF initiative, the board recognises that this is a problem that affects all festivals and would welcome the involvement of non-members in the scheme, especially the larger festivals, which are often hit the hardest.Speaking at the launch of the scheme, Rob da Bank, Bestival promoter and AIF co-founder said: "Tent theft at our festivals has always been very low, but any theft at all is really upsetting for the promoter and the people involved. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to set up AIF and I really believe we can make a difference with this initiative."A tender process with security firms is currently progressing and AIF anticipates the new team will be ready and in place by March next year.Download a PDF of this press release from here.