Police Scotland believes it can help retailers against crime
POLICE Scotland has launched its new Online Crime Reporting Form in a bid to support retailers against in-store theft.
Police Scotland has said the new form for reporting crimes of “theft by shoplifting” can only be used in instances where the offender has left the store and where there is no associated threat, risk or vulnerability. If there is another offence, in addition to the shoplifting, retailers are urged to phone 101, or 999 in an emergency, if needed.
Tim Mairs (pictured), assistant chief constable at Police Scotland, said: “Since the inception of the Retail Crime Taskforce, we have been committed to empowering retailers to report all incidents of retail crime and to make this process as simple and efficient as possible.
“We recognise that the continued rise in retail offences across the country requires a strong policing response, however, many crimes are reported after an incident has occurred, meaning that priority must be given to answering and resourcing calls where there is a more urgent risk to public safety.
“The development of the online reporting form supports the ongoing work to introduce a third-party reporting platform that can provide a consistent approach to reporting certain retail offences whenever they arise within Scotland.”Â
The form can be accessed here and Police Scotland has said retailer feedback to date has been positive with the service, with many reporting that completion of the online form is much simpler than phoning or using ContactUs.
The form has been made a permanent new service from Police Scotland following a pilot in December which allowed retailers to report crimes digitally and rolled out across the Greater Glasgow Area.
Throughout the course of the pilot, 18 retailers were able to use the reporting form across more than 100 stores with the aim to help store owners to report crime more frequently and reduce what Police Scotland has called “non-urgent, lower risk demand” for its call handling team.
During the pilot, Police Scotland said it noticed a reduction in the required 72-hour period to frequent same day processing, allowing them to investigate an incident of shoplifting at a much faster pace.
In addition to this, a link to its Digital Evidence Sharing Capability system is provided once a crime report number is generated, allowing retailers to upload their CCTV footage immediately to Police Scotland.
The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) has welcomed the introduction of the online reporting system and reassured its members it will continue to lobby parliamentarians on retailers behalf for more support against retail crime.
Hussan Lal, Scottish president at the Fed, said: “We have lobbied long and hard for better protection for retailers when it comes to shoplifting.
“While an improved reporting system is of obvious benefit to retailers, The Fed will continue to call for the Scottish government to back small independent retailers like our members through action to reduce retail crime – such as through targeted security grants.”
