A recent report by the London Assembly Tories reveals that 28,889 incidents of crime against London businesses were reported to the police last year – equating to an average of 80 per day. The crimes include robbery, theft, verbal and physical assault and shoplifting.
Westminster had the highest number of recorded incidents at 3,044 per year, followed by Croydon on 1,247 and Hammersmith and Fulham with 1,236. By contrast Richmond, Harrow and Barking and Dagenham each had fewer than 600 incidents apiece – yet across London as a whole, 94 per cent of all shop owners had been affected by crime in one form or another in the past year.
Unfortunately the report, High Street Blues, also contains evidence that shopkeepers were not satisfied by the police response to their complaints.
A total of 64 per cent of respondents believed their complaint had not been taken seriously by the officers sent out to investigate, and in turn had been put off the idea of reporting future crimes as they felt it would be a waste of time.
Although Met police data shows that crimes categorised as “business robbery” have fallen by 48 per cent since 2010, and reports of shoplifting have dropped by 66 per cent throughout the same timeframe, the report indicates that this is a result of fewer business owners reporting crimes against them rather than the crimes themselves becoming fewer.
This, according to a Met police spokesman, is something the police force is attempting to combat.
He said; “The MPS is committed to tackling crime against London’s business communities and works closely with MOPAC (the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime) and businesses across the capital to reduce crime.
“In Spring 2014, the first MPS Business Crime Strategy will be published, which aims to build on and further improve engagement, information sharing and interaction between police and business communities.
“We recognise the need to reduce under reporting so that there is a more accurate picture of business crime, and we are working on improving the way we receive information and intelligence from businesses.”
In the meantime, Tory Assembly member Roger Evans has suggested a number of measures the police could introduce such as providing crime prevention kits containing DNA sprays which shop owners could deploy in the event of a theft to make it easier to identify criminals. He also believes a crime-mapping database would allow the police to target crime hotspots and ultimately restore the trust of shopkeepers disillusioned with the Met’s service.
Previous Post
Permission Granted for Olympic Park Digital Cluster
