Pinkerton and Anti-counterfeit Operations

17th October 2024 PINKERTON and Anti-counterfeit operation – Rotarian Tom Moloney - Matlock  

Tom explained that he had been working as an Associate Director for a security company in London that were taken over in 1992 by the American Pinkerton Detective Agency (origin of the term ‘Private eye’ and the motto “We Never Sleep”). This company is known as ‘Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations’ in the UK.

This private Detective organisation was started by Allan Pinkerton, a Glaswegian, who was involved in the Chartist movement (against reform) who moved to Canada, then Illinois and Chicago and worked with Abraham Lincoln. There was a plot to assassinate Lincoln in 1861 which Pinkerton thwarted and then along came the American Civil War, all about the fight against Slavery, the Confederates against the Union, a bitter 4-year conflict and when the South retreated battlefields they killed horses so that their opponents couldn’t use them!  The Civil War left behind 620 000 dead soldiers from both sides (215,000 greater than the USA lost in WW2)

Pinkerton Detective Agency were then chasing criminals. Tom showing posters about the Pony Express, Jesse and Frank James, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (who were eventually shot in 1908 by the Bolivian Army). Pinkerton created the term ‘The Rogues Gallery’ as they were the first to do ‘Mug Shots’. In 1871 they were deployed to help in the aftermath of the Great Fire in Chicago, preventing much looting; then, standing guard around Marilyn Monroe’s coffin at her funeral in 1962 and in 1968, safely guarding the ‘Mona Lisa’ to and from the USA to France on board ship.  

Then, on to modern times with electronic surveillance counter-measures to check for ‘bugs’ in offices and homes. He gave a number of examples that he was involved in doing this ‘de-bugging’ including being involved in the 1993 Bishopsgate IRA Bomb. At the time of the explosion, he was on the 10^th Floor of an adjacent building carrying out this search. In August 1977, he managed the Close Protection Team for the 50^th Anniversary of Indian Independence with the India High Commissioner at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane.

Other involvement including working for Lockheed Martin in Dubai to protect their secrecy in aircraft sales negotiations; Confidential undercover operation of The Ryder Cup; The Home Office and HMP searching for weapons, ammunition and drugs; the huge market in counterfeit Hewlett Packard ink cartridges and toners in EMEA and his work searching for these items in Saudi Arabia and then, securing tower cranes in London from would-be dare-devil climbers.

In the late 1990’s to the mid 2000’s he was ‘seconded’ to British Telecom for a few years as Head of Security for Yellow Pages in the UK and he was part of the BT Security Management Board, before retuning to Pinkerton as the Director for Ant-Counterfeit Operations throughout EMEA.

Tom’s view is that generally, security in the UK could be improved by a bit more thought and better supervision, and the industry should take heed of Pinkerton’s motto that ‘We Never Sleep’ and be constantly on the lookout for improvements and better performance.

Various questions followed, regarding staffing numbers, prison access, Hewlett Packard in China, all dealt with by Tom. Peter gave the vote of thanks, mentioning his work on education in prisons and how astounded he was by some of the examples that Tom had given and delivered with some panache, a captivating presentation, then asking members to join him with a warm round of applause.                                           AR