Protecting shop owners for Safer Business Action Week

Police officers across Bedfordshire are supporting shop owners in the fight against theft and anti-social behaviour in a special operation for Safer Business Action Week.

In particular, they are asking owners to make sure they notify police when shoplifting occurs. It is estimated that 95 per cent of shop theft goes unreported.

Chief Inspector Katherine Rivers who is leading the campaign in Bedfordshire, said: “The more information and CCTV we get, the more we can target our operations in the right places and against the right people.”

Community officers across Bedfordshire will be carrying out high profile events including patrols, and public engagement events at shops and shopping centres. They will be promoting the ShopKind campaign which encourages positive behaviours in shops, raising awareness about the scale and impact of violence and abuse against shopworkers. 

“The safety of shopworkers is paramount,” said CI Rivers. “Anything we do to improve behaviour has got to be a good thing.

“This week is about two things: engaging with businesses and the public and identifying and catching prolific offenders.

“It’s a national campaign but has a very local focus and that’s why we are taking it so seriously. We know how local crime and anti-social behaviour affects our communities.”

• In Central Bedfordshire officers will be visiting shops and shopping centres in Leighton Buzzard, Houghton Regis, Dunstable and Barton le Clay over the course of the week and holding a “Coffee with a Copper” event at Morrisons in Houghton Regis between 2-4pm on Wednesday 16 October.
• There will also be police stalls and visits in Sandy, Cranfield, Shefford, Ampthill, Flitwick and Biggleswade.
• In Luton as well as a presence in the town centre teams will be carrying out patrols, handing out Smartwater home security kits and talking to shop owners in Bury Park, Dominic Square, Chaul End, Farley and Biscot Road across the week.
• In North Bedfordshire the Safer Shops Awareness stall will be at Kempston Retail Park on Wednesday 16 October and Silver Street Bedford on Friday 18 October with high vis patrols in the town centre and St John’s retail park.