Coventry City Centre is cracking down on shoplifting with new systems and combatting an under reporting of crime.

Coventry Business Improvement District (BID) is working in partnership with Coventry Police to reduce retail crime and ensure it is quick and easy to report incidents when they happen.

This includes working with businesses and educating staff on how to report crime, and why it is important to still report incidents after they have taken place.

Coventry BID is voted for by levy paying businesses and one of its key priorities is safety and security.

It hosts regular Crime Reduction Meetings, which are attended by businesses and retailers operating in the city, and additional meetings with banks and building societies focused on financial crimes.

The meetings act as forums for people to share the challenges they are facing and speak to the police, and other agencies, about the implementation of new measures.

This work is coordinating a partnership-led approach that sees the BID, police and businesses working together against retail crime. This is supported by the growing relationship between the BID’s street patrol and in-store security teams.

Coventry BID’s street patrol is a regular presence in the city centre and attend shoplifting incidents, coordinate CCTV control and provide quick responses to situations.

The team recovered stock valued at more than £2,000 in July, with nearly £9,000 recovered over the last 12 months, and helped to prevent crime by enabling rapid responses via the CCTV control room.

Through the Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) – a collaborative initiative involving businesses, West Midlands Police and Coventry City Council – a new crime management software has been introduced to allow for efficient reporting, intelligence sharing and case tracking.

This is also enabling the partnership to monitor repeat offenders, people of interest and suspicious activity in real time, with the BRCP carrying out multiple-day high visibility patrols in the city centre.                                                                                       

Stuart Grainger, Security Manager at Coventry BID, said: “Safety and security of businesses and visitors to the city centre is our main priority, and retail theft continues to be a major challenge not only in Coventry but in city centres across the UK.

“We are working with our partners to combat these issues through a coordinated and partnership-led approach, and at the heart of that is working with retailers and businesses to ensure that crime is reported correctly.

“By gathering accurate information and tracking offenders, we are going to be able to more effectively combat the issues. We’re looking for businesses, retailers and members of the public to report any shoplifting to a member of staff, our street patrol or the police.

“This will enable a quick response and help us build the intelligence we need to take action.

“The more incidents that are reported, the clearer the picture we can give to the police and our partners, which means we can respond faster, target resource and make Coventry city centre a safer place for everyone.”

Sergeant Richard Owen, from Coventry Police, said: “We have officers out on patrol helping ensure Coventry City Centre is a safe place to live, work and visit.

“We work alongside partners and carry out regular operations to respond to concerns and take action against anybody who causes a nuisance, disorder or commits crime.

“We would ask people to always make us aware of any issues. By telling us wherever, and whenever, you see crimes happening you can help us build a clearer picture of where we need to be.”