18th May 2012
Business Breakfast hears good news about Town Centre
17th Jan 2007
Retail crime has dropped dramatically in Bedford Town Centre since the introduction of a dedicated team of police officers and new police community support officers (PCSOs). Shoplifting, criminal or anti-social activity was down by nearly 25% last year and 40% the year before that - making the town centre a safer place to visit and do business, reported Chief Superintendent Andy Frost at the Bedford SME Business Club on Friday January 12th.
He told the audience of company directors and consultants that PCSOs were financed by a Central Government grant that required 25% was matched by a contribution from elsewhere. In Bedford Town Centre that contribution came from the BedfordBID, the organisation which represents 800 businesses in the town who have funded four of the PCSOs. In effect the BedfordBID contribution meant four extra CSPOs were on the beat. BedfordBID also finance a retail radio scheme linking police officers, PCSOs, CCTV operators, store detectives and shop managers. The BID also employs Bedford Bluecaps who, as well as meeting and greeting visitors, work with the police to identify potential problems.
Ch Supt Frost said that the Bed:Safe scheme, introduced in Bedford before the change in licensing laws meant pubs can stay open all night, had been held up a national model of good practice in reducing problems among late night drinkers. Bed:Safe sees officers on foot working together with licenced door staff, and taxi marshalls on weekend evenings and also allows licencees to run the a scheme that ensures people banned from one pub or club for bad behaviour are banned from all of the pubs and clubs.
The aim of Ch Supt Frost, who is in charge of policing across Bedfordshire (excluding Luton) was to allow police officers to do what they do best : “thief taking” and cut back on bureaucracy and paperwork - one idea coming soon will be to give officers IT equipment like hand held Blackberries so they can post reports and use police computer systems from the streets without having to go back to desk. “It would make them 50% more effective immediately,” he said.
His ideas were applauded by the gathering which is sponsored by the Bedford Development Agency and Bedford College.
