Police and Crime Commissioners have been called on to prioritise shop theft as they outline plans to tackle crime in their local areas.
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) urged commissioners to focus on retail crime following a meeting between Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire Ben Adams, Spar retailer Julian Taylor-Green and ACS government relations director Edward Woodall to discuss the impact of shop theft on Julian’s store and across the convenience sector.
Julian has experienced increased levels of shop theft as well as a robbery and fraud incident in the last 12 months, so he reached out to his PCC to see what more can be done. During the meeting, Ben Adams discussed the work that Staffordshire Police are doing to engage with the retail community to tackle retail crime, supporting the rehabilitation of persistent offenders and investing in new technology to help retailers report crime more effectively.
ACS has been campaigning for more action on shop theft from local forces throughout the last year, and has recently launched the Stop Shop Theft Campaign which calls on all Police and Crime Commissioners to deliver the new National Retail Crime Action Plan locally, tells retailers how to report shop theft offences and provide a single point of contact for businesses in their policing area. Chief executive James Lowman said: “We are delighted to see more Police & Crime Commissioners across England and Wales prioritising retail crime and making it clear that shop theft and violence against shopworkers will not be tolerated. Partnership working and information sharing are the keys to making the implementation of the Retail Crime Action Plan work, and we want all retailers to engage with the police, report all crime and act together to identify and apprehend the prolific repeat offenders who blight communities.”
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