Staffordshire Commissioner for Police, Fire and Rescue, and Crime, Matthew Ellis, will give a keynote speech about business crime at a conference in Staffordshire tomorrow.
More than 50 delegates will be attending the Association of Convenience Stores (ASC) Conference at the Bet 365 stadium in Stoke-on-Trent.
At the conference, loss prevention managers from larger convenience retailers as well as independent convenience retailers will share their thoughts on crime and good practice techniques.
Matthew Ellis was one of the first commissioners to formally sign the ACS’ pledge to ensure that police forces take shop theft and abuse of staff seriously.
“I started a retail business aged 18 and built it into a successful enterprise which I sold 15 years ago. Criminality including theft, ‘hold ups’ and shoplifting almost sunk my business in the first few years.
‘First-hand experience at a young age of the challenges retail has around criminality is the prime reason why I introduced the first comprehensive policy to tackle business crime here.
‘It is also why a specialist service to support all businesses as victims was established.
‘I strongly support the principles, the ethos and the work of ACS in tackling crime against retailers big and small which is why retail as well as wider crime against businesses continues to feature strongly in the strategy I set out in 2014’.
As well as funding a Business Crime Analyst within Staffordshire Police’s Research and Analysis department, a number of initiatives have been commissioned to support the business community.
Almost 6,000 businesses have signed up to receive SMART Alerts about business crime matters, getting business specific and targeted information quickly and effectively.
Through the Chamber of Commerce, victims of crime are referred quickly for specific advice on increasing their security and what support mechanisms are available to them as a business.
Since its launch in October, 39 businesses across the County have signed up to have a cyber champion in their workplace which gives specific advice to Champions within businesses about what to do in the event of a cyber-crime attack. This could be anything from simply receiving a ‘phishing’ email to a complete disruption of service that tries to destroy their data, steal information and even hold the business to ransom.
Retailers at the ACS Security Showcase will have the opportunity to hear more about the ways Staffordshire is tackling business crime on Wednesday 21st November.
If you are a business and would like to register for SMART Alert visit www.staffordshiresmartalert.uk
Businesses who wish to have free training and create a cyber champion in their workplace should email PFCC@Staffordshire-pfcc.pnn.gov.uk
