Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole businesses reporting retail crime 'more efficiently'
Local businesses are teaming up with the police
Three Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in Dorset are stepping up efforts to tackle shoplifting and retail crime.
The new conurbation-wide ‘Against Business Crime’ partnership promises to be a ‘game-changer’ in addressing rising levels of theft, verbal and physical abuse and anti-social behaviour.
Shopkeepers will use a new system to log incidents, identify thieves and highlight hotspot areas which will go directly to police.
The accurate and real-time data gathered in this system will be translated into useful metrics, including temperature maps - revealing hotspots and high-risk times of day - and insights into the patterns of repeat offenders.
Paul Kinvig, CEO of Bournemouth BID, told us:
“There are a number of repeat offenders, whether that's antisocial behaviour, retail crime or abuse, so the whole point of this system is to gives the police and the local authority what they need to take action.”
“Shoplifting is not a victimless crime,” he added. “Even if it's a small amount, it’s driving an addiction and it’s feeding into some challenging behaviours.
It also has a detrimental impact on shopworker’s mental health due to the verbal and physical abuse that often goes on with that kind of activity, so you’ve got to think about the consequences of retail crime if it isn’t dealt with.”
This data will give the police, council and other stakeholders an incisive new tool in their armoury to help them target and tackle crime and anti-social behaviour more effectively.
All BID member businesses, and other businesses who wish to sign up to the scheme, will have access to a cloud-based crime reporting platform.
Mr Kinvig said: “Initially, crime figures will probably rise but that's not because Bournemouth, Poole or Christchurch are out of control, it's just because we’ll finally get a truer picture of what's going on.
At the moment, businesses are under reporting because they think it takes too long, it’s too difficult or that nothing will happen if they do.”
Last weekend, town rangers helped retailers with 33 incidents of retail crime and shoplifting but only two incidents were reported to the police.
This new system will ensure the reporting of retail crime is “much quicker, much easier and way more efficient,” Mr Kinvig concluded.