A system for businesses to report crime online has been extended by Birmingham Community Safety Partnership. Eleven of the city’s Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are to receive the system which will then be made accessible to businesses within the BID areas. Three districts are already signed up to the scheme, and more are expected to join over the next few months.
Businesses can use Facewatch, a crime reporting tool, which allows them to capture security-related incidents and accompanying CCTV images; analyse the data to target-harden their premises; share watch lists with other businesses; and report incidents and statements to the Police as ‘digital evidence packages’.
More than 1000 businesses in the West Midlands area are already using Facewatch as an intelligence sharing portal and to provide police with evidence, sometimes within minutes of an offence.
Earlier this month a prolific shoplifter who’d stolen more than £2000 of goods from a supermarket was caught after his image was uploaded to the site and recognised by a security guard at a Birmingham casino. In interview he initially denied all knowledge of the offence; until shown the CCTV footage.
Businesses using the tool range from retail chains to corner shops, exhibition halls, transport providers and entertainment facilities.
Crime reports submitted via Facewatch are sent to a police contact centre and passed to investigators; officers can then access details of the crime from their desktop while automatic update emails are sent to the victim. Police say they use the system mainly to identify retail crime suspects like shoplifters, pick pockets, and purse dippers but it’s also helped crack other cases and find missing people.
West Midlands Police has for the last two years been using another Facewatch application, FacewatchID. This free app allows the general public to submit details anonymously on suspected criminals in their area. This has led to more than 100 people been arrested, having been identified by members of the public.
Supt. Andy Beard, West Midlands Police said: “Embracing new technology is crucial as we adapt to the challenges of modern day policing. This system saves time and money and enables us to offer a more efficient service to businesses – and importantly frees officers up to patrol the streets and fight crime. Many people have been arrested, charged and prosecuted as a result of Facewatch…these are cases that may have been filed as undetected without the use of this technology.”
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) David Jamieson added: “Facewatch is making life tough for criminals but makes life much easier for local businesses. With even greater uptake of schemes like Facewatch and the continued help from sharp-eyed members of the public, we can tackle business crime and make our shops, bars and streets safer and more welcoming places to visit. Facewatch is a great example of how technology can be used to work more efficiently with business. It frees up police time currently spent on collecting CCTV footage from businesses across the region.”
And James McKay, Cabinet Member for Inclusion and Community Safety added: “Birmingham Community Safety Partnership is proud to support businesses in the fight against crime and understands that Facewatch will play a crucial role in this. This web-based system will allow us to gain a truer picture of how crime and anti-social behavior affects our local businesses, helping us to develop our support for businesses in the future.”
Richard Thompson, CEO of Facewatch, is a former civilian Chief Constable of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. He said: “We are really proud that forward-thinking forces, such as West Midlands Police, are using our platform to actively tackle low-level acquisitive crime affecting the day-time economy and supporting the night-time economy by tackling anti-social behaviour.
“Moreover, those forces using our public facing App, Facewatch ID, to post online the images of subjects of interest and asking the public for help in their identification have significantly increased the number of arrests for crimes that would otherwise have been filed.”
