PC Dave Wiggins and Alan Boyd - protecting the business community
People think they can get away with anything at Christmas time. Blagging free rooms at the inn, leaving the sheep to fend for themselves and even giving up the usual duties of royalty to indulge in star-gazing - there's just no end to the brass neck of them!
Sadly, not everyone is as well intentioned as those familiar characters from the Nativity. The run-up to Christmas saw a spate of criminal activity in South Liverpool - nothing major, but very annoying for the victims, and of course there is always the financial impact. One significant business location lost an amount of electronic kit to thieves who simply walked in, unplugged the gear, and carried it out of the door. A businessman had his car stolen while he was locking the gates to his premises at the end of the day. He left the keys on board because he would only be out of the car for a minute - but that was all it took.
How can we recognise the thieves before they strike? PC Dave Wiggins and his colleague Alan Boyd of Business Crime Direct have one answer. They circulated photographs of active offenders to businesses in the New Mersey Shopping Park to good effect, and the scheme is now being extended to other areas.
The 12 Business Watch areas in South Liverpool are being restructured into seven areas. The new areas will be:
- Garston Area (including St Marys Rd - Matchworks - Docks and Industrial Estates.)
- Boulevard Industry Park (incorporating Jaguar.)
- Woodend Ave area -Venture Point - Speke Boulevard - Bridge Ind Estate
- Triumph Trading Park - Goodlass Rd and Edwards Lane areas
- Speke Hall Ind Est - Estuary Park - Skypark
- Speke area
Regular Business Watch meetings will be held at a venue within each areas to discuss various issues including criminal activity. Information packs will be made available to include crime trends and actual figures relevant to criminal activity within your area. Also to be introduced to all Business Watch Groups will be a Data Sharing Agreement that will allow members to be given photos by Merseyside Police of active offenders in the relevant areas once the Data Sharing Agreements are signed.
Dave and Alan provide high visibility patrols and send regular email information relating to criminal activity to all participating businesses. They are also available to give advice to businesses regarding crime prevention and security. Partial funding in the future may be available for improvements or upgrades on security for businesses from Business Crime Direct, through Alan.
For more information contact PC Dave Wiggins on 0151 777 5126 or email CON.David.J.Wiggins@merseyside.police.uk, or Alan Boyd on 0151 227 1234 mobile 07976 872956 or email: boyda@liverpoolchamber.org.uk
