Northamptonshire Business Crime Partnership (NBCP), based on the Northampton Retail Crime Initiative (NRCI), with about 140 members in Northampton, obtained funding from Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner in autumn 2015 to replicate the initiative in other county towns, forming NBCP.
The first new scheme was launched in November 2015 in Wellingborough (WRCI), and further new schemes were launched in 2016 in Kettering (KRCI), and Corby (CRCI). This has been achieved through change in how they operate, from a paper-based system to use of the DISC database.
The partnership has now increased retail membership to 312, a growth of 223 per cent since November 2015. This has been reflected in the rise in the number of incidents reported by members from 404 in 2015 to 1702 in 2016, a growth of 421pc. They also achieved 14,420 member logins in 2016 on the DISC system.
In October 2016, working with Northamptonshire Police, a direct crime reporting facility was launched for member retailers through DISC. Members can now report crime through DISC without calling Northamptonshire police on the 101 non-emergency system.
Northamptonshire Police report they are also pleased with the system as it is an efficient use of their resources and reduces demand upon the force’s control room at peak periods. The system is now the preferred method of reporting retail crime for many member retailers, with 58 crimes reported online in February 2016. This has been supported by NBCP who have delivered crime report training to retailers, increasing the quality of crime reports.
Steve Lang, the NBCP’s business development manager said: “This is a superb innovation that not only helps member retailers and Northamptonshire Police, but also it has assisted in increased information and intelligence being reported to us, further publicising the benefits of the NBCP to existing and potential new member retailers.
‘However, we are not resting on our laurels and have further schemes planned in 2017 to achieve the goal of complete countywide coverage. This includes the launch of a new scheme, with total coverage, for a huge new retail park in Northamptonshire, on its late summer 2017 opening. We believe that operating a BCRP at the park as it opens will set down a marker for how we want to see crime managed from the beginning, and that this message will quickly spread to offenders, who can be expected to test the security of the park.’
Pictured; statue, Northampton town centre.
