Independent Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) candidate Sue Mountstevens has pledged to set up a special forum to tackle business related crime across Avon and Somerset.
The Business Crime Forum would look at business related crime and its remedies and would be chaired by the PCC, with the Chief Constable or Deputy Chief Constable in attendance, she told a conference in London.
Sue Mountstevens was speaking at the British Retail Consortium’s Retail Crime Conference, which also featured Bernard Hogan Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and Paul Broadbent, Assistant Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire and national business lead for the Association of Chief Police Officers.
She told the conference that business leaders welcomed the idea of the forum as a contribution to getting business crime on to the police’s crime fighting agenda.
“I am determined to make the voice of business heard,” she said. “We need to recognise that business crime hurts our community and that offenders are frequently the same people who are causing crime in our homes and streets, as well as funding drug habits. It also has a major overlap with organised crime.
“I will particularly focus on bringing together intelligence from business and the police to pinpoint hotspots and then deal with them. The wise use of technology will make this a particularly effective partnership.”
Steve Willett, chief executive of Screwfix, which is based in Yeovil, told the conference: “Business is all too frequently an unheard voice in policing and this proposal is both timely and valuable. Business crime can have a real impact on jobs and prosperity in our community. Anything that enables the police to hear first hand from the business community is surely a step in the right direction.
Hussein Lalani, CEO of 99p Stores, said: “As a retailer, all too often we do not get our message across, that we are a key partner in our local communities. Retailers need to be consulted so that the full impact of retail crime is understood on both the health of the business and also on assaults against staff. This forum is a great idea and a helpful way forward.”
Andy Sharman, of Somerset West Businesses Against Crime, added: “Business crime is not a victimless crime. It has an impact on all companies, staff, employees and the wider community. We need to get our voice heard and I would welcome this forum.”
