A ShopWatch scheme is being relaunched by West Mercia police to fight shoplifting in North Worcestershire and south Birmingham.
A meeting is being arranged for the managers of shops in New Road, Rubery, as well as those over the border in Northfield. They will be encouraged to alert each other about incidents or to pass on information about suspicious people and vehicles, via special Shopwatch radios or by phone or email.<br><br>Local Policing Officer PC Jayne Willetts said: “Many of the thefts from shops in Rubery village centre and surrounding areas are committed by a handful of people living over the border in the West Midlands.<br><br>“One man who has been a persistent shoplifter over the last few years in Rubery has recently been jailed for a month and when he is released we are going to take steps to obtain an Anti Social Behaviour Order against him, with conditions banning him from not only Rubery but from the whole of Worcestershire. We will also consider this step for other regular offenders.<br><br>“These people have no respect for force boundaries and we want to make clear to them that Rubery and surrounding areas are not soft targets and that they are not welcome here.<br><br>“By liaising with each other, shops can quickly spread the word about incidents, or circulate descriptions of suspicious vehicles or people.<br><br>“So far there has been a very enthusiastic response from shop managers and staff and by working together, we are confident we will make a difference.”
And a scheme to cut shoplifting and anti-social behaviour in Whitchurch is being re-launched with a new alert system.
Community Support Officer Laura Viner took on responsibility for ShopWatch in August 2008. A problem she encountered was the time it sometimes took to get a message around to all the member businesses – with various different systems in place to pass the information around.
She approached North Shropshire District Council with the problem and suggested the idea of using mobile phones instead to send a group text message.
“It was, on average, taking up to an hour and a half to get a message around to all members. After liaising with those in ShopWatch, I felt we needed to update things to make sure everybody got information and alerts much quicker,” she said.
“Using mobile phones means that instead of the old ring-around service, where each member had another designated member to call, they could now text a brief but detailed message to everyone at the same time. This guarantees that everyone gets the information within minutes of it being sent.”
North Shropshire District Council supported the idea and, with the help of Community Initiatives Office Sue Thomas, she and CSO Viner were able to secure funding for 27 mobile phones – one for each member and another for the police.
Each phone also came with £10 credit to get people started and were provided by local company Mobile World in Whitchurch. Maintenance and credit after this will be the responsibility of the ShopWatch member.
“A police or community support officer will be in possession of our phone at all times. This means that every time a text is sent out, that officer can create a log on our system and establish more information for us to investigate,” added CSO Viner.
The new mobile phones were issued to members last week and have already been met with a very positive response. Training was given on how to send a group text message and on the suggested format in which to do so.
“We hope that even more shops will now come on board and help us reduce retail crime and anti-social behaviour even further.”
