Portsmouth businesses unite to crush high street shoplifting

The News, Portsmouth

Portsmouth Eye has been reducing incidents in Portsmouth city centre

Transcript

00:00Rescue 2-0, are you with me there?

00:02Yeah, sorry, but bear that one in mind.

00:07Over the last three and a half years, we started off with safety CCTV

00:11and started seeing the crime in Portsmouth go up,

00:15so that's why the CCTV department was introduced.

00:18I then got a dog and we went out on the roads of the night time with the dog.

00:24We started seeing antisocial behaviour and crime.

00:27When we had 14 volunteers, we called it the Portsmouth Eye,

00:30so eyes on the city, keeping everyone safe.

00:34That started to be very successful in the north of the city.

00:40We had an opportunity given to us in December of this year

00:46where we could do a radio scheme for Portsmouth.

00:50We started off in Portsmouth, in Cascades, and we grew it throughout Portsmouth.

00:55We've now got most of the high street off Commercial Road,

00:58Palmerston Road, Caution, North End, and we're working together as a team.

01:03What I like about it is the shops are constantly on the radios

01:07talking about what's going on in the high street.

01:09If there's crime happening, they're passing the information on to the other shops,

01:13which is stopping the crime actually physically happening.

01:16They're deterring it by standing on the front doors.

01:20Knowing what these people are dressed in, how they're acting and so on and so forth

01:24has been a huge benefit.

01:27Since Christmas, we had three or four radios out.

01:32Then we had five, seven, 10, 20, 25, 30, and so on.

01:39We built it up across the whole city.

01:42I've got to say a big thanks has got to go to all the shop users

01:47because without them, the scheme wouldn't work.

01:51We had the opportunity to have the database disk,

01:55which is linked into all the other shops.

01:57Basically, they can put on offenders onto the system,

02:01and that can be shared across the city to other users of disk.

02:06The police have been absolutely fantastic in Portsmouth.

02:11They've actually got a radio theirself.

02:13They've got a call sign.

02:15Everyone's got a call sign, so you never say the name of the shop,

02:18so you don't put no one in danger.

02:20The police have got a radio, Portsmouth City Council control room.

02:24Absolutely amazing.

02:27I cannot thank them enough because they're working with the shops,

02:33with ourselves, and across the whole community,

02:37and we are catching these people.

02:39We're using the cameras, we're using the radios,

02:44and we're using the database linked all together with all of these users on it.

02:49Basically, it's coming across,

02:52and we're actually bringing the crime rate in Commercial Road down.

02:58It's been brilliant, actually.

03:00The Portsmouth Eye, the radio system,

03:03we're all interlinked with each other throughout the high street.

03:07So since we've had the actual Portsmouth Eye with the radios,

03:11we've actually been able to catch quite a few prolific offenders.

03:16They're getting them off the high street.

03:18We're all noticing them a lot more.

03:20The rates have gone down a lot more, I would say, with them.

03:24I mean, Andy, who runs it, is absolutely fantastic.

03:27Just the amount of people that we're stopping at the moment.

03:29I mean, just the other day,

03:31we had a recognized prolific shoplifter on the high street,

03:34and myself, the Portsmouth Eye, Portsmouth City Council,

03:38and the police all worked together into tracking those people,

03:42and they were found with nearly six grand's worth of stolen goods on them,

03:46which he actually managed to retrieve,

03:48and actually that's a massive, massive bonus

03:51and amazing job from all of us, actually, to get that much stock back.

03:54And it wasn't just clothes. It was food. It was everything.

03:57I mean, you name it, they had it in their car. It was crazy.

04:00So yeah, it's been fantastic.

04:02And before that, crime rates were horrendous.

04:04We were getting chased around the shop.

04:06You'd get people just coming in.

04:08They just take what they want. I mean, they still do it now.

04:10Don't get me wrong.

04:11There's still people that will walk in the shop

04:12and walk out with it in their arms.

04:13They just don't care.

04:14However, the people that were prolific,

04:16they don't want to come around so much anymore

04:18because they know that they can and will be stopped.

04:20So yeah, it's been fantastic.

04:22As a company, we've been here for 34 years,

04:25but Karen, she retired just after COVID,

04:28so I've took over from her.

04:29So since we've had the Eye follow,

04:32it's been amazing down here

04:34because I used to see such a lot of crime,

04:35such a lot of shoplifting,

04:37and, you know, they all seem to be on it now.

04:41So in the mornings, especially when I'm setting up,

04:43we get quite a lot of people that are homeless

04:45and drug dependent and stuff like that.

04:47So it was quite bad with all that type of stuff.

04:50And then as soon as the shops was open,

04:52they'd be in there thieving and stuff like that.

04:54I was a little bit, when I first took over,

04:56a little bit nervous of taking over,

04:58but since I've had this

05:00and all the guys in the shops

05:02will seem to be in contact

05:04and looking out for each other,

05:05it's so much better, you know.

05:07Were you worried about it beforehand?

05:09Yeah, yeah.

05:10Honestly, it's made such a difference.

05:12It's only been a few months I've had it,

05:14but it's made such a difference.

05:15Yeah, it's been...

05:16Have, like, incidents gone down since?

05:18Yeah, I think so.

05:19Yeah, I think, I mean, you still get the odds,

05:21shoplifting, you do, you know,

05:23but it has made a massive difference to us,

05:26all of us.

05:27I've got a camera,

05:28the coffee stand's got a camera,

05:30and, I mean, these guys keep an eye out for us.

05:32And, yeah, it's been so much better.

05:35It's been really good and it's improved

05:37and shoplifting's slowly going down.

05:40Obviously, you're not going to get it overnight, so...

05:43It was a real issue beforehand

05:44around November coming up to December.

05:47What was that experience like

05:49for yourself and the staff members here?

05:51Obviously, it's not a nice experience

05:53for any of the staff to have to

05:55basically argue and fight with shoplifters

05:57on a daily basis.

05:59So...

06:00And since being a part of Fortify,

06:02you said that that experience

06:04has helped out an awful lot

06:05and shoplifting rates have gone down.

06:07Are you positive for the future

06:09that that will keep going?

06:10Oh, hopefully, yeah.

06:11So, hopefully, more people will get involved

06:13in Fortify.

06:14Obviously, more shops work together,

06:15more it tackles the crime, basically.

06:20So, business owners and shop workers

06:22have had enough with shoplifting

06:23and antisocial behaviour on the high street.

06:25They hope that by joining Fortify

06:27and coming together to tackle crime in the city,

06:30that it can bring numbers down

06:31and increase football up for the high street.

06:33Many of them said that there's already been

06:35a positive impact over the past few months

06:37and it's just a hope that this continues

06:39for the better future of the city.

06:41Freddie Webber, Portsmouth News, Commercial Road.

Category

Transcript

Recommended