CRIME
NFRN
Sussex Police create team to tackle business crime Nine investigators and a sergeant will tackle crimes such as shoplifting and verbal and physical attacks on shopworkers.
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ussex Police has established a team of officers dedicated to tackling business crime in the area. The team is made up of nine investigators and a sergeant, with the aim of improving partnership working and tackling crimes such as shoplifting, as well as verbal and physical attacks on shopworkers. Retailers have welcomed the move. NFRN Southeast District President, Navin Patel, said: “We had a meeting with the PCC last year to make her aware of the scale of the problems local shops face in terms of crime, so we are pleased to see action taking place. “I would like to meet with the business crime team and invite other members to take them round the crime hot spots.”
The Sussex force is also working alongside the Safer Sussex Business Partnership, an umbrella organisation that brings together local and national retailers and other interested parties, to tackle the root causes of business crime, encourage swifter reporting, and find better ways to work collaboratively to catch prolific offenders. Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne added: “The impact that these crimes have on our business community and our frontline shopworkers must be understood and acted on more effectively, especially as offenders are almost certainly committing offences elsewhere.
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“In Sussex, we are determined to show offenders that they will be held to account for their actions and to demonstrate to the public that we take these crimes seriously.” The Association of Convenience Stores Crime Report 2021 revealed that 89% of staff working in local shops have experienced some form of abuse, with more than 1.2 million incidents recorded over the past year. The research also revealed 1.1 million incidents of customer theft in stores over the year, at a cost of £1,360 per store, while 36% of retailers were found to have no confidence that police will investigate the crimes they report.
