Gloucestershire Police report that Gloucester City Centre’s Safer Community Team is continuing to focus on pick-pockets by getting behind the camera.
Police intelligence shows that many of those suspected of being involved in such crime travel to the City for the day, often by train, from other towns.
In an effort to prevent and detect such offences, officers are using hand-held video cameras to record images of people arriving at Gloucester station on a regular basis.
If offences are later reported, descriptions of those responsible may then be matched with the footage to gain valuable information to help trace those responsible. The new initiative is being combined with uniformed and plain-clothed patrols of hot-spot areas and crime prevention work.
Sergeant Tim Jones of the Gloucester City Centre Inspector Neighbourhood Area SCT said: "We believe those responsible for such offences in Gloucester City Centre tend to be people visiting for the day who then help themselves to purses and bags. We’ve been working hard to address this issue and have made several arrests but this is a new way in which we hope to detect and prevent such offences. It also provides us with a good opportunity to be able to chat to people and offer crime prevention advice."
