Sheffield-based People United Against Crime (PUAC) has been awarded £49,000 by the College of Policing to help police forces tackle business crime. PUAC is the only crime prevention charity to be awarded this type of grant and joined a list of seven universities and two police forces to receive grants totalling £496,000 to create networks between police and academic partners.
The charity, which works in the Yorkshire and Humber region, will use the grant as a first step towards a national roll out of its business crime reduction techniques. The grant by the College of Policing – the new professional body for the police in England and Wales – will be used to create networks for evidence-based policing so that police methods and techniques for tackling crime can be tested, helping the service to become more efficient.
PUAC will work with the University of Huddersfield and forces including South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Humberside to develop suitable training materials for officers in those forces to tackle crime against businesses. Help is aimed at small and medium sized businesses offering guidance against cybercrime and ‘traditional’ physical crime types.
PUAC will create a model to help reduce business crime within the four force areas to meet the demands of different businesses, such as manufacturing and retail, depending on their location, such as rural settings or high streets.
A mix of 75 academic institutions and police forces submitted bids to the college for sums up to £50,000.
People United Against Crime chief executive, David Ransom, said: “We are delighted to receive this funding; it provides us with the opportunity to mainstream the model of business crime reduction that PUAC has developed through its Business Crime Reduction Centre. As the only charity to be selected, we are pleased to represent the voluntary sector and thrilled to work with the University of Huddersfield and the Yorkshire and Humber police forces.”
The work carried out by PUAC will feed into the National What Works Centre for Crime Reduction providing evidence for police to tackle crime.
College of Policing head of research, Rachel Tuffin, said: “As the home of the What Works Centre for Crime Reduction, the College of Policing wants to build links between police and academia so the way we go about policing is as efficient and effective as possible. This funding will be a springboard for future research and learning so police officers and staff get the best evidence to help them cut crime and keep the public safe.”
