Hertfordshire shoplifters are being put on notice as a new reporting system is to be introduced, making it easier and quicker for retailers to provide evidence and information to the police.

A pilot of ShopSafe Alert is being introduced by Hertfordshire Police & Crime Commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards in four of the county’s town centres and retail parks, as part of ongoing work to make town centres safer.

The initiative was launched this week in St Albans where the Police & Crime Commissioner was joined by Claire Furnell-Williams from St Albans City Centre BID, Martin Gregg from ShopSafe and officers from the Neighbourhood Policing Team.

Stage one of the launch makes it easier to capture details of criminal incidents and hold intelligence for Police evaluation. Retailers will be able to share more information about incidents and prolific offenders with each other and police, allowing them to prevent more shoplifting from occurring.

Future developments aim to enable a direct reporting facility to Hertfordshire Police’s control room with retail staff able to quickly upload evidence, such as CCTV footage and witness statements via the system which will speed up evidence gathering, issuing of crime reference numbers, this time saving system will make crime reporting more likely.

The introduction of a simple intelligence sharing with the future intent to set up a direct reporting system was a key request of St Albans City Centre BID and retailers who attended the Police & Crime Commissioner’s Retail Crime Forum last year. It’s been taken forward by the Hertfordshire Against Retail Crime Partnership established by the Commissioner.

The pilot will be taking place in four locations, in partnership with Business Improvement Districts and Neighbourhood Policing Teams:

· Bishop’s Stortford

· St Albans

· Stevenage – Roaring Meg Retail Park

· Welwyn Garden City

If the pilot is successful, it is expected that it will be rolled out to other locations in Hertfordshire.

Jonathan Ash-Edwards, Police & Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire, said:

“I’m determined that we turn the tide on retail crime in Hertfordshire. It is not a victimless crime; it impacts hardworking retail staff, hurts independent businesses and means we all pay more as consumers.

“Through our Hertfordshire Against Retail Crime partnership, businesses told us they wanted better communication and reporting systems to allow a more joined-up response and that’s what this pilot will deliver.

“Importantly, making it easier for retailers to share information and submit the right evidence to the police will ensure we see more action taken against shoplifters in Hertfordshire”.

Vivien Cannon, BID Manager of St Albans City Centre BID said,

“In St Albans we spearheaded a similar approach and shared our ambitions with Jonathan Ash-Edwards. We are excited that he has listened to us, other BIDs and retailers to set up this much larger collaborative pilot scheme using Alert. It is key that Hertfordshire Police is central to using the programme and we encourage all our businesses to make use of the it and support crime detection and prevention. This pilot scheme sends a clear message that businesses and police are strengthening our partnership to secure our city from those who commit crime.”

Martin Gregg, Head of Customer Success at Shop Safe said,

“ShopSafe is proud to work alongside Hertfordshire Police, the OPCC, BIDs and retailers in a countywide partnership that brings policing and the retail community closer than ever before.

“This pilot provides direct to police reporting and real time intelligence, enabling officers to act quickly against local prolific offenders and, through escalation to Operation Opal, to disrupt organised retail crime groups as well.

“This collaboration also reflects our No Business Left Behind strategy, ensuring that both independent retailers and national businesses receive the same level of support and access to policing. By serving every part of the business community, we help create a smarter, faster and more confident response to retail crime, making Hertfordshire a safer place to work, shop and do business.”

For more information please contact:

Rachel Stone, Hertfordshire PCC

Tel: 0794 9279782 Email: Rachel.stone@herts-pcc.gov.u