Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson has said plans are in place to tackle retail crime at a specially convened forum looking at security in Salisbury.

The inaugural Salisbury Security Forum, which was jointly hosted by the Salisbury and District Chamber of Commerce, Salisbury BID and Wiltshire Police and sponsored by Enigma Security, brought together business owners, security specialists and local councillors to discuss the main issues affecting them and how they are going to be solved.

In his keynote speech, Chief Superintendent Downing urged all businesses to report all instances of crime and shoplifting, and stressed that Wiltshire Police investigates every crime, including incidents of shoplifting.  He also spoke about the Operational Retail Groups which have been put in place in Salisbury and across all of the towns in the county and stressed the need for effective enforcement and especially efforts to work with businesses to establish the Retail Offender Management Panel to tackle the behaviour of persistent offenders more effectively. Chief Inspector Downing also described how the police would use out of court disposals in the correct circumstances to tackle young less serious offenders.

Joining Chief Superintendent Downing on stage, the Police and Crime Commissioner spoke about the need for businesses to continue working towards a common goal to reduce retail crime and anti-social behaviour in Salisbury:

“Retail crime is a high priority for the Chief Constable and a key focus in my Police and Crime Plan, and through the work of Chief Superintendent Downing, the local neighbourhood policing team in Salisbury and my office, we have brought together the right elements to tackle it in partnership with the business organisations and local authorities in the city.

“We are still at the early stages, but as the retail groups begin to work together, I am confident we will see more positive results in the months and years to come.

“It’s important that businesses report crime when see it, so that the Chief Superintendent and his team can accurately build up a picture of the areas and people to target to successfully deal with those who are responsible and make our shops and businesses safer places.”

Presentations about the physical and technological threats faced by businesses from local security firms Venture Security and EVOTEC, talked about the cost of shoplifting and the trends within the industry which have been developed to combat it.

It was stressed by EVOTEC managing director Andy Tamkus, whose Amesbury firm specialises in electronic security systems, that technology shouldn’t replace human experience and intuition.

Published Sunday 1 December 2024