BUSINESS WATCH SCHEMES

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An enthusiastic Business Watch scheme will reduce crime

Protecting your business with locks, bolts and bars is fine, but you will enjoy greater security and peace of mind if everyone around you is working with you. Employees and residents in a business community possess a very specialised knowledge of their neighbourhood that even the proverbial “Village Bobby” would take years to achieve. A police officer might not recognise someone in your property as a stranger, but an employee or neighbour would. By letting the police know of anything suspicious you see or hear, you are helping to reduce the opportunities for crime to occur. Even going to the trouble of letting a stranger who is wandering about your area know you’re keeping an eye on him helps tremendously.

This is what Business Watch Schemes are all about

Business Watch schemes are about mutual support, being a partnership against criminal behaviour that undermines local business. Some workers think they should not ring the police when they see something suspicious going on at a neighbouring business as they don’t want people to think they’re being nosey, intrusive or interfering in other people’s concerns. In Business Watch the participants all agree that they want each other to be vigilant as far as crime is concerned. If you have the phone number of the building next door and you ring up a contact there to check that a suspicious van removing items from the yard is okay, who wouldn’t be grateful?

Some schemes have collectively purchased radios so that they can quickly pass on information about suspicious persons, shoplifters, crime trends, etc. Others find it preferable to have a telephone system or text where one person calls another. Regular informal meetings between partners and the police help establish methods of targeting resources to reduce crime by sharing information.

If you want to start a scheme or find out if one exists in your area, contact your Local Intergrated Policing Team on 101

This article is from ‘A Guide To Business Security‘ produced by Greater Manchester Police.