[MSN] Thieves beware: museum curators are after you. Faced with the prospect of dissolution, the Art and Antiques Unit of the Metropolitan Police has come up with a new idea-to recruit curators and art historians as special constables.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Thieves beware: museum curators are after you

By Lucian Harris | Posted 03 January 2007 

LONDON. Faced with the prospect of dissolution, the Art and Antiques Unit of
the Metropolitan Police has come up with a new idea-to recruit curators and
art historians as special constables. The scheme, dubbed Art Beat, is set to
start in April. This is the first time the police has attempted to recruit
such specialist volunteers. 

Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley told The Art Newspaper that the scheme was
devised after the Art squad was told by the Metropolitan Police Authority
that it could be disbanded if it did not become 50% self-financing by 2008. 

Art Beat Special Constables are being recruited from museums such as the
Victoria & Albert and the British Museum, universities, insurance companies
and other cultural organisations. After four weeks training in police
procedure as well as specialist art squad techniques, volunteers will be
sponsored by their employers to work as Special Constables for 200 hours a
year or one day a fortnight. They will be uniformed and will have full
police powers. 

"The aim is to build bridges between the police and the art world and
maintain a high visibility presence in areas with a high level of art
sales," said DS Rapley. "This could include patrolling antiques markets like
Bermondsey or areas with clusters of art dealers like Kensington Church
Street, Bond Street or Camden Passage, or undercover intelligence work." 

The Art and Antiquities Unit currently consists of only four full time
officers. "At the moment we are not receiving as much information as we
would like from the art trade," said DS Rapley. "We have tried to recruit
from areas with the kind of specialist knowledge that will benefit from our
work." So far the police have recruited archaeology and antiquities experts,
and hope to have 14 constables trained by April. 

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/