The BDSW presented what is now the 6th BDSW Employee Award at its 56th Annual General Meeting. “With this award, the BDSW honours the performance of its employees, but also shows that the security industry as a whole makes a significant contribution to security in Germany,” said Lutz Kleinfeldt, jury chairman and BDSW vice president. All the applications that reached the jury this year for the 2022 period had shown how different the challenges for security employees are and how outstandingly well the employees can master them, he said.

“We all know that this does not only refer to the colleagues who excel, like our applicants, but also to those who do their job day after day, whether in the property or on patrol, at events or in the emergency call and service centre,” Kleinfeldt emphasised in his laudatory speech. Employees like the award-winning workers are the figurehead of the sector and ensure that a sector that often has to struggle with negative headlines can also shine.

This year’s winners are Erkan Demirtas from Pond Security Werkschutz GmbH, Erlensee (1st place), Florian März from Westfälischer Wachschutz GmbH & Co. KG, Recklinghausen (2nd place) and Thomas Weber from ASK Allgemeine Sicherheits- und Kontrollgesellschaft mbH, Berlin (3rd place).

The winners / picture: (from left) Thomas Weber, Erkan Demirtas and Frank Huerkamp, who accepted the certificate on behalf of Florian März, who was ill.

1st place

Erkan Demirtas was on patrol in January 2022 when he received an emergency first aid call. He immediately broke off the patrol and went to the location of the person concerned, an employee of a cleaning company, who was not feeling well and complained of pain in the chest area as well as in his left arm. Demirtas took him to the first aid room and immediately initiated all measures necessary to provide first aid: He made an emergency call and coordinated the team so that the rescue forces could quickly get to the scene. He put the patient in a lying position and opened his shirt in case resuscitative measures were needed. Fortunately, the ambulance arrived quickly and took over the patient.

The RTW crew specifically pointed out to Mr Demirtas that his quick reaction and prompt action meant that the person was still alive. Without his first aid, the person would have died by the time the emergency services arrived, as four veins leading to his heart were blocked.

Demirtas kept a cool head and radiated calm in an extremely dicey situation. He thus calmed the patient and the entire environment, which helped to ensure that the affected gentleman’s heart was not subjected to any additional stress.

2nd place

Florian März was part of a two-man team that went on the alarm and intervention drive after a video alarm was received in the NSL of the WWS on 20 September 2022.

At the property, which includes a warehouse where copper is stored, they noticed that a theft was obviously in progress. März and his colleague immediately informed the police and blocked the only access road with their service vehicle.

After the police arrived, März provided the officers with access and entry to the company premises. The police secured the broken construction fence and the entrance with a patrol car so that escape from the premises through the only exit was impossible.

After the burglars saw the police drive up to the company premises, they tried in vain to break through the police barrier at full speed with the getaway car and to flee. They eventually left the getaway car behind and fled on foot without any loot. With the help of a police helicopter, the two fugitives were finally apprehended.

Florian März, who was the first WWS security professional to arrive on the scene with his colleague, ensured during the operation that the police teams were up to date on the operation and, due to his local knowledge, instructed newly arriving teams of forensic experts and forensic experts on the local conditions of the premises.

It is thanks to Mr. März’s quick comprehension and responsiveness that the assets of WWS’s client could be protected.

3rd place

Thomas Weber was deployed as a shop detective at the REWE Center Olching property on 29 December 2022. He noticed a man who was behaving conspicuously, observed him and noticed that the suspect was loading high-value goods from different departments into a shopping trolley and covering them with several frozen food transport bags. The suspect entered the fenced-off area of the garden department but did not leave again. Mr Weber therefore searched this area without finding the suspect. He only found the shopping trolley, which was now empty. As the detective had the only entrance in view and the area was fenced off, the suspect could only have left the market by climbing the fence.

Weber left the market to conduct a perimeter search. He saw the suspect pulling out bags from between the recycling containers placed there. A woman approached and helped the suspect carry the bags away. Weber called in the police and gave chase. The suspects eventually deposited the stolen goods behind a dumpster and left. After following them for a few streets, Mr Weber lost sight of them. Unfortunately, the police patrol did not arrive in time to arrest the suspects. When checking the new dumping place, the two men could not be found.