National Business Crime Week of Action

Merseyside Police is joining other police forces and community partners across the country to support the National Business Crime Centre week of action to tackle business crime, starting today, 17 October 2022.

During the week of action, each police force taking part will be holding various crime prevention activities and initiatives to increase engagement with local businesses and retail outlets, and disrupt some of the most prolific criminals. In Merseyside, operational activity will include Safer Business Action Days to deliver a focus on joint patrols and the targeted intervention of offenders.

Community Policing Chief Inspector Paul Holden said: “Businesses can be affected by a wide variety of crimes and throughout the year our officers are proactively tackling offences ranging from theft, burglary and cybercrime to abusive or violent behaviour directed at staff. A Safer Business Action Day is all about partnership working, with the police, business, private security, Business Crime Reduction Partnerships and Business Improvement Districts working together to reduce crime.

“This proactive and collaborative approach allows us to deploy resources into designated locations, and in addition to joint patrolling and the targeting of offenders, we will raise awareness within our communities of the crimes that impact business. We will also demonstrate the importance of tackling crime to protect and safeguard staff in businesses and retail premises.

“Businesses, their customers and visitors, and our wider communities will see an increased police presence during a wide range of activity throughout the week. This will include the deployment of mobile police stations at retail centres, high visibility patrols, awareness and crime prevention talks, and joint operations with Trading Standards and Licensing partners.

“As always, we will be linked in with live-monitored CCTV throughout the local authority areas to help us gather evidence in business and retail crime. We will also advise business sites with private CCTV regarding the importance of maintaining their systems and capturing high quality images in the event of a crime occurring, which can help support our investigations.”

Retailers and other businesses on high streets and town centres are encouraged to get involved and display the #ShopKind campaign messaging in their stores. The ShopKind materials are aimed at encouraging positive behaviours in shops and acknowledging the important role of shopworkers – campaign materials are free to download at https://nbcc.police.uk/business-support/shopkind.

All retailers and businesses are also encouraged to increase their cybercrime awareness, a category of crimes that some businesses overlook when implementing or renewing their protective security measures. The North West Cyber Resilience Centre (NWCRC) offers free membership and resources that will enable businesses and retailers to protect themselves from cybercrime attacks and to respond effectively should they become victims. Find more information at the website https://www.nwcrc.co.uk

Everyone can play a part in helping tackle business crime and if you have any information that may assist in our efforts to tackle this type of crime, you can send it to us via DM @MerPolCC, ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ on Facebook or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.