Five Shropshire towns included in Government's 'summer crackdown' on town centre crime
A Government-backed crackdown on retail theft and town centre crime will include five Shropshire towns, the Home Office has said.
Shoppers and businesses in Wellington, Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Ludlow and Bridgnorth will see an increased police presence over the summer, as part of a scheme targeting shop thefts and violence against shop workers.
The crackdown is part of a national Government initiative, which includes more than 500 towns and cities, aimed at reducing crime in town centres.
The drive is primarily aimed at reducing theft from shops, which the Home Office said has surged by 60 per cent in the last two years.
Now, Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales have developed bespoke local action plans with police, businesses and local councils to crackdown on offenders this summer.
The Government said the scheme will "restore faith in community policing" after years of declining police officer presence on Britain’s streets.
In a statement, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said some town centres felt "abandoned", and that the new initiative would "send a clear message" to perpetrators of town centre criminality.
"High streets and town centres are the very heart of our communities. Residents and businesses have the right to feel safe in their towns," she said.
"But the last Government left a surge in shop theft, street crime and anti-social behaviour which has left too many town centres feeling abandoned.
"It’s time to turn this round. That’s why I have called on police forces and councils alike to work together to deliver a summer blitz on town centre crime to send a clear message to those people who bring misery to our towns that their crimes will no longer go unpunished.
The fact that 500 towns have signed up shows the strength of feeling on this issue."
The plans include increased visible town centre policing and ramping up the use of targeted enforcement powers against troublemakers – including banning perpetrators from hotspots.
Superintendent Lisa Maslen of the National Business Crime Centre said that retail crime was continuing to have a "significant impact" on businesses, across the country.
"The Tackling Retail Crime Together strategy and campaign is about strengthening the vital partnerships between policing and the retail sector to deliver meaningful action," she said.
"The NBCC received £2 million of funding from the Home Office to support police and partners in tackling retail crime and we have used some of the funding to develop the first national campaign to highlight the amount of work being done to respond to, prevent and detect retail crime offences across the country."
Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for retail crime, added: "We know retail crime has a significant impact on victims, damages businesses and communities and goes far beyond financial loss. We also know it is a complex problem with a diverse offender profile and is something which requires a strong partnership approach, tackling the issues together.
"Over the last two years we have made significant strides in our fight against retail crime, strengthening relationships with retailers and greatly improving information sharing which has resulted in a number of high harm offenders being brought to justice and the new Retail Crime Strategy builds on this even further."
