Getting to know … Bomma Prashanth, CDA’s Security Officer

Our Security Team patrol our district everyday, ensuring a secure area for all. This month, we spoke with Security Officer, Prashanth, to uncover the many ways his role at CDA goes beyond security and safety.

Q: What motivated you to join the CDA team?
A: I’ve been working here since April 2024! I previously worked for Baker Street BID, so I’m familiar with BIDs and their important work in London.

Q: How do you coordinate with other services during your shifts at CDA?
A: We sometimes undertake joint patrols with the police around key spots like Holborn station and St Giles. We also speak with the local authority when reporting things like e-bikes left in the wrong locations.

Q: What does your typical day-to-day at CDA look like?
A: We start at 7:30am with designated locations across the district to visit, with one team heading east and one heading west. The biggest priority each morning is ensuring a welfare check with rough sleepers. Our task is to report information to Camden Council. From there, the Council will send their teams if anyone is in need of assistance or accommodation. 

We have a list of businesses we need to visit in our patrol, using an app called Strata. We usually finish at 3:30pm and do a daily handover, letting the team know if we dealt with any issues or public interactions. Each Friday, we also do a weekly handover!

Q: In your experience, what’s a common misconception about security that you’d like to clarify for businesses or individuals in the CDA area?
A: When people see our uniform, they sometimes think that we are ticket wardens! Tourists are often scared to come up to us to ask us for directions, but we approach them and let them know that we’re here to help.

Another common misconception is that we just do security. We cover a lot more than that… we connect people with the police if they’ve lost their phone, help to calm people down if there’s been a crisis and also wait with them until the police come if there’s been an incident. There’s sometimes a language barrier with tourists, so this can be challenging. If a member of the public has told us that they’ve seen a crime in the local area, we pass the message on and tell others to be vigilant. 

Q: What’s your favourite place in the district?
A: Definitely Holborn station! We can give more directions there, as there are lots of people.

Thank you, Prashanth, for making our district safe! For more information on our security team and their vital role, please visit CDA’s Community Safety project page.