Trade bodies have welcomed the launch of the Home Office’s Winter of Action, a scheme aimed at tackling retail crime and anti-social behaviour.
The Winter of Action initiative will see police using “hotspot patrols, quick visible enforcement and locally tailored approaches, working closely with businesses and community groups to clamp down on shop theft and street crime across hundreds of town centres,” a release said.
It also builds on the Safer Streets Summer initiative, which took place in almost 650 town centres and resulted in over 16,000 arrests and fines, mostly for shop theft and anti-social behaviour. The summer also saw targeted visible patrols up almost 20% compared to the previous year, largely in town centres.
The launch of the Winter of Action initiative comes as ACS reveals new data showing that more than half of independent retailers rate their relationship with their neighbourhood policing team as very good.
Home Secretary, Shabanna Mahmoodk (left), said: “Shoplifting and anti-social behaviour are tearing at the fabric of our communities. This winter we’re launching a crime-fighting blitz with police patrolling our high streets across the country.
“This is part of our wider plans to fight crime with 3,000 more police on the beat by the Spring to catch criminals and make our communities safe.”
In response, the Association of Convenience Stores’ (ACS) chief executive, James Lowman (right), added: “We welcome the launch, which will put more police officers in town centres and neighbourhood parades to tackle shop theft and anti-social behaviour that is blighting communities.
“Local shops continue to face unacceptable levels of theft, but we are starting to see positive signs of a stronger response from police forces. Encouragingly, over half of independent convenience stores (52%) now rate their relationship with their neighbourhood policing team as very good.
“It’s essential that police forces maintain this momentum and deliver targeted action against prolific offenders who repeatedly steal from shops and undermine community safety. Convenience stores invest over £5,000 per year in security measures to protect customers, colleagues, and the communities they serve. This initiative is a vital step toward ensuring those efforts are supported by effective enforcement.”
Also speaking on the campaign, the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira), which represents over 6,000 independent retailers in the UK, has given its support to the nationwide crackdown.
Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, said: “We all want to see our high streets made safer. We support the particular focus on repeat offenders of retail crime - removing these perpetrators will make a positive difference to shop owners. In the longer term we hope that these events will be replaced by a significant increase in police on our high streets during the whole year.”
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