A POPULAR crime management app is helping to accelerate the fight against business crime following key member additions in Worksop and Retford – delivered in partnership with North Notts BID.
The BID, which leads the North Notts Business Crime Reduction Partnership (NNBCRP), remains steadfast in its commitment to deliver impactful services and events for the district – with recent criminal activities stopped swiftly and efficiently thanks to the DISC crime management app.
The app, which helps close the gap between BID levy payers, voluntary members and police authorities, was recently bolstered with the addition of Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores in Worksop, and Lidl and Aldi stores in Retford. The supermarkets have started sharing their own intelligence on the platform, leading to a repeat offender recently being ejected from Tesco, with his image instantly uploaded to the app by a store member.
The app, which helps close the gap between BID levy payers, voluntary members and police authorities, was recently bolstered with the addition of Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores in Worksop, and Lidl and Aldi stores in Retford. The supermarkets have started sharing their own intelligence on the platform, leading to a repeat offender recently being ejected from Tesco, with his image instantly uploaded to the app by a store member.
Brian Adair, incident prevention manager at Tesco, said:
“The feedback we receive on DISC is hugely positive. During my time previously covering the Northamptonshire area, all Tesco stores in the area signed up to DISC and found the ability to report crime jointly to the police to be a game changer in incident management.
“The app is quick, convenient, with stores seeing a real cut through with low level crime that causes the most distress. The ability to identify suspects and name them to the police is a key strength, while the messaging feature acts as a powerful alert system. We’re pleased to see the app now being used to similar effect in North Notts.”
Since launching in the district in 2021, the DISC database and app has attracted more than 300 users and has recorded more than 2000 member logins per month from the retail, hospitality, and industrial sectors.
North Notts Business Crime Reduction Partnership has already processed 259 alerts this year, featuring many local incidents and others from around the region and country that are supplied in partnership with the National Business Crime Solution. The alerts can be the first heads-up to businesses that a known offender is local – through integration with the ANPR network – or give an outlook on developing crime trends.
NNBCRP is running regular virtual sessions to educate and inform businesses on the benefits of the DISC app and other crime reduction tools – which include Shopwatch, Pubwatch, radios for town centre businesses, as well as extensive CCTV coverage, Truckpol and the recently launched traceable liquid asset marking system SmartWater.
George Buchanan, chair of North Notts BID, said: “The North Notts Business Crime Reduction Partnership is having a profound impact on the fight against retail crime, largely thanks to the uptake by businesses who want to remain vigilant and take action. We remain committed to delivering a programme of services to support different businesses for their key concerns.
“Equally, it’s also important that firms continue to take advantage of our meetings, as these form a vital part of our continued approach to inform and educate, as well as mitigate crime from happening and stop incidents in their tracks.”
For more information about North Notts BID and the NNBCRP, visit www.northnottsbid.co.uk.
Posted on 03 April 2023
