The venue for a recent business crime conference was an example of good practice, the event heard.
Bob Golding, Warwickshire Police Assistant Chief Constable and ACPO lead on business crime, was among speakers at the Belfry golf club. Welcoming the audience to Warwickshire, ACC Golding said he hoped that their cars would not be broken into. Such crime at the club near Birmingham - thieves breaking into cars to take laptops, on view on back seats - is no longer a hot-spot thanks to signage (warning of covert police operations, pictured), CCTV, and a vehicle barrier at the entrance-exit. ACC Golding, speaking frankly about public sector key performance indicators (KPIs) and what he called ‘bean-counting’ was quick to admit that business crime is not a police KPI. Yet from Warwickshire Police’s own statistics, businesses are significantly more likely to be a victim of crime than society at large. The county force has, ACC Golding went on, installed temporary alarms and the Smartwater forensic marking product; and has done 1,910 business crime risk assessments. The force has seen business crime fall, while overall crime is higher. He spoke of an ACPO debate over what is a crime against business, and if it should be a police KPI. It’s difficult, he added, to say business crime should be another priority because there is a danger of everything being a priority. But, he said, he is interested in locking up criminals: “We can make a difference if we get co-ordinated; we can make a difference locally and apply a little pressure upwards,” hinting at seeking to change policy on KPIs, and what is generally seen by business as the authorities giving business crime a low priority.
Forum launch
At the Government Office for the West Midlands event, ACC Golding and Staffordshire businessman Mike Cherry launched the West Midlands business crime forum, under the umbrella of the West Midlands Business Council. Mr Cherry, who chairs the forum, said that crime against business is simply not on the [political] agenda, and that has to change. There has to be a single definition of business crime, too, he added. His suggested definition: any crime against a business, or on a business premises.
AABC
Richard Barron, the West Midlands regional manager for Action Against Business Crime, described the AABC, which has been running since September 2004; and the Safer Business Award, as a benchmark for business crime partnerships. As for work still to do, he spoke of being recently in Shrewsbury to reaccredit the town from the previous Safer Shopping Award to the SBA. What about, Richard Barron said, the nearby market towns such as Wem and Oswestry? He went through the retail and business benefits of gaining the award, from safer staff to higher foot-fall. The main speaker, Ian Pearson MP, Department for Trade and Industry Minister of State, presented SBA certificates to partnership managers Chris James (Birmingham); Cynthia Spaull (Hereford); Peter Guillaume (Warwickshire); Jeff Sharp (security manager, Kingfisher shopping centre, Redditch); Bill Crook (Kidderminster); Angie Took (Wolverhampton, featured in our July 2005 issue); Julie Davies (Stoke-on-Trent, featured in our April 2004 issue); and Jack Hince (Worcester). Also presented by the minister were the first certificates to takers of a ‘Safety in Business’ distance-learning course covering risk assessment, crime prevention, health and safety, fire safety and personal safety. For more details ring EduCare on 01926 436211.
Scoping the problem
Earlier, Dave Suszek, Business Crime Lead, at Government Office for the West Midlands, stressed that the event was a celebration of achievements so far. It began with consultation in 2002-3 between the Home Office and business, to ‘scope’ the scale of the problem. Appointments in the government regional offices of business crime advisers followed. There were a lot of initiatives in England and Wales (Scotland has its own set-up), Dave Suszek suggested, but not communicated well. As for a definition of business crime, a point for other speakers, Dave Suszek recalled asking the four West Midlands police forces for their definitions; only Warwickshire had one. In the West Midlands region in 2003-4, 26 per cent of all recorded crime was on business premises or against businesses. The ‘big four’ business crimes were: shop theft; fraud; theft’; and commercial burglary, which at £74.5m was the largest chunk of the £123m overall cost to the region of business crime in 2003-4. In other words, £14,000 an hour. Mr Suszek did argue that businesses had to do their bit; he reported that crime and disorder partnerships (of local authorities, police and others) found businesses hard to reach. The partnerships might offer ‘business breakfasts’ or evening meetings to draw businesses; but businesses were not turning up. He suggested it is ‘ludicrous’ that there is legislation requiring businesses to look at health and safety; and fire safety; but not crime reduction. There is work in progress; a police officer seconded to the West Midlands regional development agency, Advantage WM (Chief Insp Mark Stokes, featured in our November issue) so that the agency takes into account ‘designing out crime’ in site developments. Mr Suszek ended by showing images of an unnamed cash in transit firm’s member of staff (which however from the uniform could be identified as Securicor) delivering cash from a CIT van to an unnamed town shop on a shopping trolley. Businesses and contract security providers, he suggested, had to do their own things correctly.
Minister speaks
Ian Pearson MP, the opening speaker, described business crime as a cross-departmental issue for government, one for the Home Office, DTI and others, such as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Mr Pearson suggested that designing out crime be considered in planning applications. Why should a business, Mr Pearson asked, have to wait three months for permission to put up external shutters? Rather, he suggested, we should look at fast-tracking such plans for anti-crime reasons. He praised the business crime partnership in his constituency, Dudley (featured in its early days in our February 2004 issue). Dudley has issued 14 exclusion notices banning offenders from partnership members’ premises. Two have re-offended; one was jailed, one is subject to a Crasbo (criminal anti-social behaviour order). Such ‘proactive measures’, Mr Pearson said, has resulted in a fall in shop theft across that borough. He spoke also of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) such as Broad Street’s in Birmingham (in our September 2005 issue). That area of offices, pubs and other venues has a five-year plan including gaining the Safer Business Award in year one. And taking up the call for better communications between police, crime partnerships and businesses, Mr Pearson hit the nail on the head, without providing an answer: “Far too often I hear businesses saying to me, ‘I know it ‘crime] is a problem, but I don’t know who to speak to’ or ‘ I know I should report it [a crime] but what’s the point, I know nothing gets done’.”
