Shopkeepers welcome new town centre taskforce

Ten dedicated teams across the West Mercia Police area will focus on issues in town and city centres, the force says

Shopkeepers have said they welcome a new town centre police team which has been set up to target shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.

The officers would work closely with local shops and businesses "to take preventative steps against the crimes which impact on them the most", according to Assistant Chief Constable Grant Wills of West Mercia Police.

According to the Office for National Statistics, more than 430,000 shoplifting offences were recorded by police in England and Wales last year.

That figure is the highest since modern police records began in 2003.

Andrew Holden, of Wrekin Whiskies on Wyle Cop in Shrewsbury, said the business had experienced a number of thefts from opportunistic people walking into the shop while staff were distracted.

He said police were often on Pride Hill, and that had forced would-be thieves to migrate to areas including Wyle Cop.

“The shop has been here seven years, and I think we’ve had more thefts this year than previous,” he said.

“Some of [the offenders] are very well known,” he added. “The police do know who they are.”

He said the shop had CCTV which was able to identify culprits, but said he thought the new patrols had prevented thefts taking place in the first place.

“They’re quite high profile, [the officers] walk around. It’s reassuring and I’m sure it’s deterring shoplifters.”

Reassured

Stephanie Mansell-Jones, project lead for Safer Shrewsbury and Public Realm with Shrewsbury BID said the town was already a safe place to be, but that independent businesses were concerned about anti-social behaviour and the negative impact this could have on customers coming into the town.

“If your footfall is lower then you’re not getting people spending in the shops,” she said.

“So I think they will be reassured to hear we are getting a new town team, new police officers.”

She said she felt the scheme would make Shrewsbury feel more welcoming for visitors.

“There is that level of reassurance and I think police are fully aware that if you have a uniformed presence in an area that is statistically likely to reduce your crime rates and that is what we want to see.”

Ms Mansell-Jones said the number of police on the streets had reduced compared to numbers six years ago, and that the town had also lost its dedicated police base – sometimes leading to slower response times, she added.

Despite that, a targeted campaign had meant levels of anti-social behaviour had reduced in Shrewsbury since the Covid pandemic.