Bournemouth Town Centre BID joins campaign to tackle business crime
The aim is to raise awareness of the role Business Crime Reduction Partnerships play in tackling shoplifting and antisocial behaviour
Bournemouth Town Centre BID is taking part in the first-ever national awareness week for Business Crime Reduction Partnerships.
The aim of the week is to raise awareness of the role Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs) play in tackling shoplifting and antisocial behaviour.
These not-for-profit organisations bring the business community together with police, local authority and other stakeholders, supporting collaborative working and providing a platform for information sharing and incident recording to help empower targeted action.
Throughout the awareness week, the ‘Against Business Crime Partnership’ of which the Bournemouth Town Centre BID is a founding partner, will host a series of activities to promote its work and provide support to local businesses.
Sophie Jordan, CEO at the National Association of Business Crime Partnerships said:
“Most towns and cities in the UK are supported by a local BCRP, yet their highly effective work to keep communities safe is widely unknown outside the immediate industry sector.
“The Awareness Week seeks to change this by showcasing the complex and holistic approach to crime prevention provided by BCRP methodology.”
Launched a year ago, Bournemouth’s Against Business Crime Partnership is led by the three Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) – Bournemouth Town Centre BID, the Bournemouth Coastal BID and Poole BID – alongside BCP Council and Dorset Police, with support from the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioners Office.
Reporting crime
In the Town Centre BID area alone, more than 130 businesses joined the Against Business Crime Partnership, gaining access to SentrySIS - a cloud-based crime reporting platform. Here, incidents and potential threats can be logged, alerting members to issues in real time.
The shared intelligence can not only help in the early identification of offenders, including prolific repeat offenders, but the gathered data is also used to generate insights such as temperature maps revealing hotspots and high-risk times of day and the patterns of repeat offenders.
As part of NBCP awareness week, Bournemouth Town Centre BID is hosting drop-in training sessions for its levy payers looking to improve their understanding of the SentrySIS crime reporting platform.
Paul Kinvig, Chief Operating Officer at Bournemouth Town Centre BID, said:
“Since the launch of our ‘Against Business Crime Partnership’, we’ve seen fantastic engagement from our local businesses signing up to play their part in reducing crime.
“National BCRP Awareness Week is an excellent opportunity to spotlight how this powerful partnership approach is helping to make Bournemouth town centre safer for businesses, staff, and visitors alike.”
Jackie Arnold, Business Crime Liaison Officer for Bournemouth Town Centre BID, added:
“Our crime reporting platform has already proven to be an invaluable tool in the fight against retail crime, providing clearer, better data to support the police and local authorities to target action and progress with enforcement.
“These drop-in sessions will give levy payers the chance to learn more about how to use the system fully and effectively. I’d encourage any Bournemouth Town Centre BID levy paying business with concerns about shoplifting or anti-social behaviour to come along and see how we can help.”
Sophie Sajic, Head of Public Protection at BCP Council, said:
“The Against Business Crime Partnership has strengthened collaboration between businesses, police, and the local authority, helping to reduce crime and improve safety in the town centre. Alongside the success of our Town Team, the actions of the partnership have supported a 6% reduction in anti-social behaviour in the town centre over the last year. National BCRP Awareness Week is a great opportunity to showcase how this joined-up approach is making a real difference.”