ACS welcomes ‘Winter of Action’ to tackle crime in town centres

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed the launch of the Home Office’s Winter of Action, aimed at tackling retail crime and anti-social behaviour.

The Winter of Action initiative will see police using hotspot patrols, quick visible enforcement, and locally tailored approaches, working closely with businesses and community groups to clamp down on shop theft and street crime across hundreds of town centres.

The Winter of Action builds on the Safer Streets Summer initiative, which took place in almost 650 town centres and resulted in over 16,000 arrests and fines, mostly for shop theft and anti-social behaviour. The summer also saw targeted visible patrols up almost 20% compared to the previous year, largely in town centres.

According to a IPSOS national survey, levels of anti-social behaviour witnessed or experienced in town centres reduced over the summer. There was also a fall in concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime deterring people from visiting their local town or city centre.

The launch of the Winter of Action initiative comes as ACS reveals new data showing that more than half of independent retailers rate their relationship with their neighbourhood policing team as very good.

Home Secretary, Shabanna Mahmood said: “Shoplifting and anti-social behaviour are tearing at the fabric of our communities. This winter we are launching a crime- fighting blitz with police patrolling our high streets across the country.

“This is part of our wider plans to fight crime with 3,000 more police on the beat by the Spring to catch criminals and make our communities safe.”

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We welcome the launch of the Winter of Action initiative, which will put more police officers in town centres and neighbourhood parades to tackle shop theft and anti-social behaviour that is blighting communities. Local shops continue to face unacceptable levels of theft, but we are starting to see positive signs of a stronger response from police forces. Encouragingly, over half of independent convenience stores (52%) now rate their relationship with their neighbourhood policing team as very good.

“It is essential that police forces maintain this momentum and deliver targeted action against prolific offenders who repeatedly steal from shops and undermine community safety. Convenience stores invest over £5,000 per year in security measures to protect customers, colleagues, and the communities they serve. This initiative is a vital step toward ensuring those efforts are supported by effective enforcement.”

The Winter of Action continues the government’s drive to restore neighbourhood policing through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which from July has meant named, contactable officers in every community, increased peak time patrols in town centres and anti-social behaviour leads in every force.

From Spring next year there will be 3,000 additional officers in neighbourhood policing roles with officers set to have new powers to tackle shop theft and anti-social behaviour through the Crime and Policing Bill. This includes a new specific offence of assaulting a retail worker, ending the effective immunity that currently applies for theft of goods of and under £200 and the introduction of Respect Orders.