Continued focus to tackle retail crime
Tackling retail crime remains a priority in the Thames Valley with continued engagement and collaboration this week between retailers, the police and other partners.
Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner hosted the third Thames Valley Strategic Retail Crime Forum and has also continued to contribute to national conversations, sharing experiences and learning from the Thames Valley.
Matthew said “I created the Thames Valley Strategic Retail Crime Forum as part of my Retail Crime Strategy, to bring together existing partnerships alongside senior figures in retail, locally, regionally and nationally to liaise with the police.
“This latest meeting was supported by John Lewis at its Waitrose Conference Centre in Bracknell where we discussed a range of topics including tackling serious organised crime, the potential future use of facial recognition technology, along with an update on the roll out of Disc, which I’ve funded across the Thames Valley to improve the sharing of information between retailers and the police.”
The PCC also joined national retailers, security firms, the National Business Crime Centre and other partners this week at a national thought leadership event, Fighting Retail Crime: A New Approach. The event looked at what national measures may be needed to make an impact and the actions that businesses and others can take to support these changes.
