APCC Chair backs Safer Streets Summer town centre policing blitz

Chair of the APCC, Emily Spurrell, is backing a summer of intensified policing in town centres across England and Wales. Commenting on the Safer Streets Summer push to tackle anti-social behaviour and retail crime, she said:

“Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Deputy Mayors know how much people want to rid their neighbourhoods of criminal and anti-social behaviour (ASB) that blights too many communities. Tackling retail crime and ASB is essential to allowing our town centres to flourish. People have a right to feel safe and shop workers shouldn’t have to defend their stores against regular and organised theft, putting themselves at risk of violence.  

“As the public’s voice in policing, we have long understood that neighbourhood policing is key to addressing these issues which is why we welcomed the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. It will see thousands more officers on our streets and introduce specialist training for them to operate effectively within local communities, building trust.  

“With our local police forces and other partners in support of the Safer Streets Summer initiative, PCCs and Deputy Mayors will be working harder than ever to target criminal and anti-social behaviour so that people feel safe and have pride in where they live and work. We are determined to deliver real and demonstrable change so that communities and town centres can thrive and prosper.” 

Alongside the Safer Streets Summer initiative, the Home Office has launched a strategy to crack down on shop theft. ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together’ will use shared data to disrupt organised criminal gangs and perpetrators, including those stealing to fund addiction. Commenting on the strategy, the APCC’s Joint Leads on Business and Retail Crime, Katy Bourne OBE and Andy Dunbobbin, said:

“This strategy is an acknowledgement of the urgent need to focus on tackling unacceptable levels of shop theft and violence against retail workers.  

“We are delighted that the success of the Police and Crime Commissioner-led Pegasus partnership of retailers, home office and police has been recognised and is being built upon.  

“Through the work of Pegasus and policing’s Opal team, a hugely effective, data-led and intelligence-sharing approach has been developed that focuses on organised retail crime gangs with greater police and retailer working at its heart.” 

Notes

• Emily Spurrell is APCC Chair and PCC for Merseyside
• Katy Bourne OBE is APCC Joint Lead on Business and Retail Crime, and PCC for Sussex
• Andy Dunbobbin is APCC Joint Lead on Business and Retail Crime, and PCC for North Wales
• Further information on Safer Streets Summer and the ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together’ strategy is available via gov.uk