Nghe An: Warning about the situation of many offices being robbed of property
(Baonghean) - According to statistics from the authorities, in 2019 alone, there were dozens of thefts at government offices and agencies in the province. This not only disrupts security and order but also raises the alarm about the current loopholes in asset management in public offices.
The daring robberies
Most recently, taking advantage of the late night, thieves broke into the headquarters of the People's Committee of Nghia Loc commune, Nghia Dan district, broke the lock on the office door of the accountant and the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune to steal property.
Specifically, at about 11:37 p.m. on March 14, 2020, a thief broke into the headquarters of the People's Committee of Nghia Loc commune. Here, the subject broke the lock of the commune accounting office door and took away about 30 million VND. The stolen amount included commune budget revenue, the salary of the female accountant who had just received it... After that, the subject continued to break the lock of the office door of the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghia Loc commune, took away 1.5 million VND and escaped.
Upon discovering the incident, Nghia Loc Commune Police secured the scene and reported the incident to Nghia Dan District Police. Currently, Nghia Dan District Police are investigating and hunting down the perpetrator.
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| Quynh My Commune People's Committee headquarters, which was discovered to have been stolen on the morning of January 5, 2020. Photo courtesy |
Previously, on the morning of January 5, 2020, Mr. Nguyen Van Minh (security guard of the People's Committee of Quynh My commune, Quynh Luu district) went to the offices to check security. Mr. Minh discovered that 4 offices on the first floor had been broken into, the doors were wide open; on the second floor, the Accounting office was also broken into. Mr. Minh immediately called the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, the Public Security Department and the specialized departments to inform them.
“After checking at the scene, the four offices on the first floor were not stolen, but the Accounting office on the second floor had its door broken into by a bad guy, then the lock of the cabinet and the safe were broken to steal nearly 100 million VND,” said an official of Quynh My commune.
Upon receiving the news, Quynh Luu District Police arrived at the scene to collect evidence and investigate the incident. It is known that not long ago, the Quynh Tam Commune office was also broken into by bad guys, who broke the safe and stole a large amount of money.
Not long before, at around 6:45 am on October 14, 2019, Mr. Dang Ngoc Tho - Director of Quynh Luu District Social Insurance came to work and saw the gate closed. Mr. Tho called the security guard, Mr. Dang Van Thanh (born in 1974), in Quynh Hong commune, but he did not answer the phone. A moment later, Mr. Tho went to the back of the office building and discovered that the security guard had died earlier with many wounds on the head, blood flowing profusely.
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| Quynh Luu District Social Insurance Headquarters where the incident occurred. Photo courtesy of Hong Hai |
Upon receiving the news, Quynh Luu District Police and Nghe An Provincial Police arrived at the scene to collect evidence to investigate the incident. According to initial information, the victim died in a prone position, with a soft head and blood stains on his body spreading onto the yard.
At the scene, the safe in the Accounting room of the Quynh Luu Social Insurance headquarters was broken. From the office building to the side door, there was a mark stretching dozens of meters, which was the mark of the safe being dragged to steal property but there was no money so the thief left it behind. At the scene, the security guard's motorbike was stolen. It is suspected that the bad guy broke in from behind and was discovered by the security guard, so he killed the person to silence him and stole the motorbike before escaping. However, the incident is still being investigated and clarified by the authorities.
Strengthen prevention
According to statistics from Nghe An Provincial Police, in 2019 alone, there were more than 30 thefts in offices in the area. Through analysis of the criminals' modus operandi, it can be seen that, in addition to a few individuals operating individually, most of the cases of break-ins and thefts of valuable assets were caused by individuals operating in groups.
For example, on March 24, 2020, Quynh Luu District Police initiated a case, prosecuting 7 defendants, all residing in Quynh Luu District, including: Tran Bao Vinh (born in 1991), residing in Quynh Long Commune; Le Dinh Hung (born in 1984); Le Dinh Hiep (born in 1993), residing in Tan Son Commune; Le Van Thong (born in 1995), residing in Quynh Thuan Commune; Nguyen Huy Cuong (born in 2003), residing in Son Hai Commune; Cong The Hoai (born in 2002) and Tran Huy Trong (born in 2002), both residing in Quynh Tho Commune, for the act of stealing property at agencies and schools in the district. Notably, in this criminal group, there were 2 children participating.
An investigator said that all of the above subjects dropped out of school and were addicted to online games. The above subjects admitted that from June 2019 to March 2020, they had committed 8 thefts in Quynh Luu district. Of these, 4 thefts occurred at offices and schools. To carry out the thefts, they all worked in groups.
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| The subjects were prosecuted by Quynh Luu District Police for theft of property in the workplace from June 2019 to March 2020. Photo courtesy of Duc Vu |
Through the investigation of the cases, it was found that the stolen assets were often money and small, easily sold valuable items. Therefore, when going to schools, agencies, and offices, the subjects often went to offices that kept valuable assets such as computer rooms, accounting rooms, cashier rooms, and even the offices and departments of department and branch leaders. For example, before, taking advantage of a loophole, thieves broke the lock and broke into the office of the Director and 4 other departments at the Department of Industry and Trade.
Before committing a crime, the subjects often learn the working rules of the security guards and carefully survey the terrain to find the easiest point to break into. The subjects often choose agencies, People's Committee headquarters... far from residential areas, with few people passing by, with a thin security force, mainly only on duty outside the gate, not patrolling or checking at night. The headquarters have lighting systems, security equipment, low, simple fences, office doors are often made of glass, the place to store assets is only roughly locked, not safe and often does not have security cameras or has but does not store images, or does not work...
Accordingly, office break-ins and thefts often occur at night or on holidays when no one is working, in adverse weather conditions, making investigation and detection difficult.
In addition, the reality today is that most security guards at offices are old, have poor health, lack professional skills and necessary equipment; many places that are equipped only have raincoats, boots, and flashlights. According to Mr. NVH, a school security guard in Dien Chau district, he said: Although he is a retired soldier, he is nearly 70 years old this year and has limited health, so protecting the school's large assets is quite stressful. Not to mention, in addition to my main job as a security guard, I also do cleaning and taking care of ornamental plants...
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| Surveillance camera system at the headquarters of the People's Committee of Quan Hanh town (Nghi Loc). Photo: D.C. |
Faced with the above reality, especially after the murder and robbery case at the headquarters of the Social Insurance of Quynh Luu district on October 14, 2019, which resulted in the death of a security guard, the Provincial People's Committee issued an official dispatch requesting the Provincial Police to notify the hotline number of the police agency to agencies, organizations and businesses so that the units can proactively contact and discuss when there are issues related to security and order.
Coordinate with the People's Procuracy and the Courts at all levels to select a number of typical cases to focus on investigation, prosecution and trial. Strengthen security work at key targets, not allowing complicated incidents of security and order to occur. Localities, departments and branches need to arrange a sufficient number of security guards; replicate the community camera model, install full technical equipment to support security, especially at banks, credit funds, insurance, large businesses...
To improve the effectiveness of prevention work, in addition to raising awareness, increasing patrols and protection, in agencies, schools, etc., it is not advisable to store many valuable assets, or leave large amounts of cash in the office. In addition, it is necessary to promote the movement "All people protect national security", at the same time, it is necessary to reinforce the gate and door system and install warning and alarm devices to promptly detect criminals such as security cameras...