Bournemouth, Business, Christchurch, Crime, Poole | Posted on March 18th, 2025 | return to news
Bournemouth businesses step up the fight against crime
This week is the first ever national awareness week for Business Crime Reduction Partnerships, and patrols will be taking place across the region.
Bournemouth Town Centre BID is taking part in this week’s first ever national awareness week for Business Crime Reduction Partnerships.
The aim is to raise awareness of the role Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs) play in tackling shoplifting and antisocial behaviour.
Throughout the event the ‘Against Business Crime Partnership’ of which the Bournemouth Town Centre BID is a founding partner, will host a series of activities to promote its work and provide support to local businesses.
Sophie Jordan, CEO at the National Association of Business Crime Partnerships, said:
“Most towns and cities in the UK are supported by a local BCRP, yet their highly effective work to keep communities safe is widely unknown outside the immediate industry sector.
“The Awareness Week seeks to change this by showcasing the complex and holistic approach to crime prevention provided by BCRP methodology.”
Launched a year ago, Bournemouth’s Against Business Crime Partnership is led by the three Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) – Bournemouth Town Centre BID, the Bournemouth Coastal BID and Poole BID – alongside BCP Council and Dorset Police, with support from the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner.
In the Town Centre BID area alone, more than 130 businesses joined the Against Business Crime Partnership, gaining access to SentrySIS – a cloud-based crime reporting platform. Here, incidents and potential threats can be logged, alerting members to issues in real time.
The shared intelligence can not only help in the early identification of offenders, including prolific repeat offenders, but the gathered data is also used to generate insights such as temperature maps revealing hotspots and high-risk times of day and the patterns of repeat offenders.
Bournemouth Town Centre BID’s town rangers and BCP Council’s Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS) officers will be undertaking joint patrols in the town centre over the course of the week, helping to deter and prevent crime.
Paul Kinvig, chief operating officer at Bournemouth Town Centre BID, said: “Since the launch of our ‘Against Business Crime Partnership’, we’ve seen fantastic engagement from our local businesses signing up to play their part in reducing crime.
“National BCRP Awareness Week is an excellent opportunity to spotlight how this powerful partnership approach is helping to make Bournemouth town centre safer for businesses, staff, and visitors alike.”
Jackie Arnold, business crime liaison officer for Bournemouth Town Centre BID, said: “Our crime reporting platform has already proven to be an invaluable tool in the fight against retail crime, providing clearer, better data to support the police and local authorities to target action and progress with enforcement.”
Sophie Sajic, head of Public Protection at BCP Council, said: “The Against Business Crime Partnership has strengthened collaboration between businesses, police, and the local authority, helping to reduce crime and improve safety in the town centre. Alongside the success of our Town Team, the actions of the partnership have supported a six per cent reduction in anti-social behaviour in the town centre over the last year. National BCRP Awareness Week is a great opportunity to showcase how this joined-up approach is making a real difference.”
National BCRP Awareness Week is led by the National Association of Business Crime Partnerships (NABCP), which works with BCRPs across the UK to promote effective crime prevention strategies.
For more information about the Bournemouth and Poole Against Business Crime Partnership visit www.againstbusinesscrime.co.uk.
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