THE FIGHT against business and retail crime in Warwickshire is stepping up.
The county’s Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe has awarded a £10,000 grant to support a more joined up approach between police, retailers and licensed premises.
The grant was awarded during Safer Business Action Week – during which three shoplifters were convicted and a further seven suspects were charged in Warwickshire.
The aim of the grant is to allow the Warwickshire Retail Crime Initiative (WRCI) to expand its membership and strengthen its links with Warwickshire Police.
It is hoped the new funding will help the initiative to tackle prolific offending in shops, bars and pubs across the county.
WRCI’s membership comprises 163 shops and 104 pubs, bars and restaurants across Rugby, Stratford, Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth, Nuneaton, Bedworth and Atherstone.
Members use an encrypted app to report incidents and share images of people who have committed crimes or been excluded from premises. Since July, this has resulted in 77 shoplifters being deterred.
So far this year, members have reported over 2,100 incidents, with 18 per cent of them involving violence or abuse.
Mr Seccombe said: “The level of incidents involving some form of violence in our shops and licensed premises is simply unacceptable, as is the level of prolific offending against these businesses.
“The funding aims to support the development of better links between police and retailers to stamp out this kind of offending and give greater confidence to businesses to report crime in the first place.”
Shoplifters convicted during Safer Business Action Week include Claude Grossett, 43, of no fixed abode, who was fined a total of £162 for stealing food and drink from a shop in Clifton Road, Rugby.
And Gareth Haywood, 55, of Burbury Close in Leamington, was fined a total of £206 and required to undertake rehabilitation activities after he stole from three shops in the town over a four-day period.
