In March, Safer Business Network coordinated a Month of Action in London. In partnership with the National Business Crime Centre, this initiative aimed to improve partnership working and target the prolific and high harm offenders that negatively impact business communities.
Over the course of the month, the team coordinated the delivery of 12 Safer Business Action Days & Nights (#SaBA) across the capital, working closely with three police forces (Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police and the City of London Police), local Councils, Business Improvement Districts, businesses and security providers. All days and nights of action were led by local intelligence, highlighting the impact local partnerships have on disrupting the criminal activities of local high-harm offenders whilst considering individual safeguarding needs and enhancing the perception of safety in any given area.
The 12 SaBA events involved:
- Support from 248 police officers
- 46 arrests
- 20 Community Protection Warnings (CPWs) issued
- 550 businesses
- 620 pieces of crime prevention advice distributed
Alessandra Valencic, Safer Business Network SaBA Coordinator said: ‘The impact that these action days are having is much bigger than it looks. While one day of disruption may not solve everything, these days of action allow for stronger relationships to be forged with businesses and partners, while demonstrating the power that local intelligence has in bringing high-harm offenders to justice. The success of these days sits with the hard work our officers, businesses and local policing teams do day in and day out, and we are pleased to see how important local intelligence has been in delivering the outstanding number of arrests and injunctions. This highlights how we all have a part to play and how partnership work is the key to success.’
NBCC lead Supt Patrick Holdaway said: ‘I would like to thank the Safer Business Network for supporting the NBCC national month of action against retail and business crime. Police, private security and other partners worked together to hold 12 SaBA Days across London resulting in 46 arrests. The entire team worked hard to visit and engage with over 500 businesses building long term relationships and helping to improve confidence in the policing and partnership response to local crime issues. The Safer Business Network team are always willing to support our initiatives and put in significant time and resources into planning and executing dedicated operations to drive down crime. We are proud to work with them.’
Safer Business Network would like to thank all the businesses, partners, stakeholders and local organisations involved for their support and trust.
