THAMES Valley Police is rolling out a new region-wide initiative to tackle shoplifting.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner has announced it has procured the use of a new platform to help retailers access information about crime in a bid to reduce shoplifting.
A new information-sharing service will be made available to retailers to help them report crime and access information from across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Milton Keynes.
The platform, called Disc, hosts galleries of known offenders, allows users to submit incident reports, and instantly message other users of the service to alert them to urgent or important updates.
It also features alerts and information about relevant resources and events, reference guides, and automated newsletters complete with weekly summaries of personalised updates, as well as methods of speeding up police reporting.
It is accessible via desktop and mobile, and provided through a cloud-based service which is regularly subjected to security testing, and set for roll-out over the next month.
The service can be configured for a number of different types of organisations, and is in use by a number of PubWatch schemes and Business Improvement Districts, as well as retailers and other businesses.
It comes after a number of high-profile reports in both Reading Today and national media about the recent prevalence of theft from shops, including a report by the BBC which showed that that 71% of serious retail crime is not responded to by the police.
In the three weeks leading up to Monday, November 20, at least eight people have been charged with shoplifting in Reading alone, and police appealed for a further man who was wanted in relation to shoplifting charges.
The issue was also a point of discussion at the recent Business Improvement District meeting, where “strong support” was shown by a number of businesses in Reading for business “wardens” to help tackle the problem.
A Reading resident raised concerns in June after his local Co-op store was repeatedly targeted by thieves, during which he described the police as “unfit for purpose.”
then in September, the company announced that it was extending its use of anti-theft dummy display packaging for products targeted by thieves.
A spokesperson for the chain said: “Known, repeat and prolific offenders predominantly drive the incidents of brazen theft which is an ongoing challenge for all retailers.”
Police and Crime Commissioner for Berkshire, Matthew Barber, said: “Over recent months I have been engaging with retailers across the Thames Valley to understand the challenges they face with regards to retail crime.
“Retail crime has a profound impact on staff, customers and the wider economy. However, it remains significantly underreported both in Thames Valley and across the country.
“With the implementation of Disc, we will make reporting retail crime easier and more efficient. The ease of information sharing between retailers themselves and directly with the police will make a difference to the security and confidence of businesses with increased intelligence supporting a more targeted policing response.
“I am continuing to engage retailers on how business and policing can better work together to tackle these issues and I’m currently developing a wider retail strategy, of which Disc forms a part, to deliver a more visible, targeted and robust response.”
More information about the Disc platform is available via: discagainstcrime.com
