Business Crime Reduction Partnership praised for tackling shop crime

Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, has urged major retailers in Salisbury to support their stores and make the most of the tools being provided to reduce retail crime in the city.

Members of the Salisbury Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP), which was formed last November, have access to the DISC direct reporting system, which allows members to share information with each other, such as offender and vehicle descriptions and witness statements, at the same time as sharing it with the police.

The speedier, more streamlined reporting allows officers to investigate retail crime more effectively, saving time, building stronger cases, and solving more crimes through high-quality evidence.

Recently, two prolific offenders in Salisbury were jailed thanks to close work between the local Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), businesses in the city, Salisbury BID and Salisbury City Council’s CCTV team.

Dean Brown, 46, and Jodie Brown, 28, both of Cook Court, Bishopdown, were sentenced to 20 months and 12 months' imprisonment, respectively, for numerous theft and shoplifting offences in the Salisbury area.

Whilst this highlights the importance of partnership working, the Police and Crime Commissioner is asking the head offices of some stores to do more in partnership with the police.

When a report is submitted via the DISC system, the police can request CCTV footage and any further statements. Unfortunately, in some cases, store head offices don’t provide the evidence officers require, meaning the case can’t be progressed further.

Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said, “Since the formation of the BCRP in Salisbury, we have seen some good results and anecdotal evidence shows confidence amongst businesses in the city is growing. This is something we will monitor and continue to measure.

“That said, we do need our local stores to be supported by their head offices, and that means providing the police with all the evidence they need in a timely manner. By working together, we can create a safer environment for our residents, retailers and shop workers.”

Chief Inspector Carly Nesbitt, the Business Crime lead at Wiltshire Police, said, “Direct reporting through systems like DISC is vital, because we can connect all the information and intelligence that identifies the offenders more easily, and we can do what we can to get them off the streets and protect our shops and shop workers.

“Retailers log what’s happened and, in a couple of minutes, most of the details are filled in for them. The report then goes straight to our Crime Communications Centre, for it to be triaged and the correct response assigned. 

 “This means we get a clearer picture of what’s really going on, businesses can manage low‑level issues more easily, and we can focus our time on the offenders who are causing the most harm.”

This week marks the start of Business Crime Reduction Partnership Awareness Week, which aims to raise awareness of the role BCRPs play in tackling retail crime and anti-social behaviour.

Dan Collins is the Operations Manager at Salisbury BID, and he highlighted the benefits for businesses by being part of the BCRP: “It means they're part of the system. They're getting all the information about all the potential threats that are around, whether it’s about retail crime or anti-social behaviour.

“It also means that they can quite simply upload reports, let other businesses know what’s going on, and escalate that report to a police report. It's a much slicker system.”

Salisbury is the first place in Wiltshire to set up a BCRP, with more towns across Wiltshire expected to follow suit.

Mr Wilkinson added, “Salisbury is setting a benchmark which we are looking to replicate when we set up BCRPs in other parts of the county.

“By working with our partners and coordinating our efforts to increase security, we will collectively be able to support economic development and make our town and city centres a safer place to work and live.”