Leamington crime initiative receives national accreditation

Stephanie Kerr, Executive Director of BID Leamington, said: “The Warwickshire Retail Crime Initiative is an essential town centre partnership in Leamington, and is something that we are very pleased to support.

“It is fantastic that the initiative has received accreditation and demonstrates just how effective it is at reducing and preventing crime and antisocial behaviour in Leamington and the wider county.

“Managing crime and antisocial behaviour requires a team effort, so it is very pleasing to see that the initiative has so many members and supporters, and we look forward to continuing to show our support going forward.” 

Peter Guillaume, of the WRCI, added: “This has been a long and challenging process but with guidance and help from the National Association of Business Crime Partnerships and Warwickshire Police we are pleased that our operating standards have now met the required standards.

“This comes at a very opportune time when the scheme has been awarded a grant for targeting and preventing prolific offending in shops and licensed premises in Warwickshire, for which WRCI and its members are very grateful.”

Guy Collyer from Police CPI said: “Gaining accreditation is a significant challenge for crime reduction partnerships. I congratulate the achievements of the Warwickshire Retail Crime Initiative and look forward to seeing how they continue to develop this and create safer places within the BID.”

Peter Guillaume, of WRCI; Luke Phillips, of Rugby First, Stephanie Kerr, of BID Leamington; Derek Bradley, of WRCI; Chris Lewis, of the Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner office; Jared Seal, of WRCI; Chief Inspector Faz Chishty, of Warwickshire Police and Ricky Lewis, of the Boots Leamington security team, next to Leamington’s help point button – one of the security measures in the town.

BCRP accreditation

The accreditation process is based on a set of standards owned by the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC).

The standards include good management practices and procedures such as membership agreements, data security and compliance with current legislation. It includes having robust information for members and partner organisations that is up to date as well as making it easily accessible 24/7. For some BCRPs, the standards will include the use of CCTV and radio links with members.

The aim is to recognise good practice and professionalism to ensure BCRPs are functioning in an ethical manner and within the law, specifically checks to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation.

It is expected that accreditation will enhance the level of partnership working nationally and encourage continued, significant, national business investment in BCRPs. In addition, the intention is that it will provide reassurance to Police Forces that data shared with BCRP partner organisations will be utilised in a responsible manner to reduce criminal activity.

Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (Police CPI), who run the Secured by Design initiative, is the accreditation body for Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs). The accreditation process is based on a set of standards owned by the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC).

Warwickshire Retail Crime Initiative (WRCI)

The WRCI, which has members across Leamington, is a partnership which aims to prevent and reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in retail and licensed business premises in Warwickshire.

The WRCI is made up of several town centre partnerships and has members across Leamington, Kenilworth, Warwick, Stratford, Alcester, Rugby, Nuneaton, Bedworth and Atherstone.

The current membership in Leamington is 48 retail premises and 37 licensed premises.

Members share data via an encrypted app on which they can also report incidents and view images of individuals who have been reported for committing crime, or have been excluded from entering a member premises because of their actions.

In the last 12 months, a total of 1068 incidents have been reported by retail members and 86 by licensing members across the Warwick District, which includes Leamington, and a total of 193 individuals have been excluded by these members.

The accreditation comes after the WRCI was awarded a £10,000 grant from Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe to specifically target and prevent prolific offending in shops and licensed premises across the county.

WRCI is a member-funded organisation, which also receives financial support from BID Leamington, the Rugby and Stratford BIDs, Warwickshire County Council, Warwickshire District Council and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire.

Derek Bradley, WRCI Administrator North, Chris Lewis – Partnerships Office Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner office, Peter Guillaume, Board member, Jared Seal WRCI Administrator South