28 Nov Launching our new Business Crime Reduction Partnership
A new Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) between Hammersmith BID and Discover Fulham BID has been launched to combat crime and improve safety in both areas.
The new initiative will see the two BIDs pool resources to provide an Engagement Officer, share information and link up with a London-wide network of town centres in a joint effort to make both areas a safer place to live and work.
The BCRP will enable the BIDs to deliver joint initiatives that similarly affect businesses across both areas, such as Welfare And Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) and Ask For Angela training as well as sharing a crime reporting network with our businesses that can provide intelligence on transient criminals.
The Engagement Officer will operate in each town centre two days a week, visiting businesses, deterring criminals and sharing information with the BID’s security partners, including the Met Police. Information gathered by the Street Ambassador will be fed into Alert, a GDPR-compliant reporting platform that the Police, Council, businesses and other security partners can access.
As part of the initiative, both BIDs have signed up to Safer Business Network, which brings together all of London’s BCRPs to share information, tools and resources. Businesses in Hammersmith and Fulham will benefit from direct access to state-of-the-art communication tools, a secure website and app which provides them with up-to-date images of offenders operating in the local area and crime trends, free training and regular information-sharing briefings including PubWatch and ShopWatch.
The new partnership is in response to a nationwide increase in crime and anti-social behaviour which affects residents, workers and business owners, impacts business profitability and the look and feel of our town centres. Although there are plans being put in place by the Met Police, the Mayor’s Office and national stores, both BIDs wanted to take a proactive approach rather than waiting for the effects of national policy to filter down to our local areas.