LAW ENFORCEMENT
The Victim, the Offender and the location triangle
In this ‘victim, offender, location’ approach, officers have carried out far-reaching risk assessments to pinpoint the top 10 areas, the top 10 offenders and the top 10 stores that are targeted – the three areas that have taken up the majority of their time and resource.
As part of this intelligence-led campaign, they are risk assessing the areas and offering the stores pre-crime assessments based upon designing out the crime in the first instance and collaborating with other stakeholder partners including the local Chambers of Commerce.
Offenders identified as targeting those locations are processed through the courts, but then – working with probation staff - are visited in prison to make sure they have somewhere to live when they come out, for example, as part of a more holistic, cross-agency approach.
The third part of the triangle is using crime stoppers to advise members of the public that handling or selling stolen goods is a crime and carries a serious sentence.
This is far from a ‘soft touch’ approach as many of the crimes are violent. Merseyside Police have already arrested nine people and charged another as part of the force-wide crackdown on retail crime.
Officers have already executed search warrants at houses in Bebington, Bootle, Prescot, Everton, Anfield and Toxteth.
Nine people have already been arrested on suspicion of robbery, handling stolen goods and possession of drugs with intent to supply.
One man- a 35-year-old from Bebington - was arrested in connection with an armed robbery at a Co-op last December in which staff were threatened with an axe before having money stolen.
Two other men, aged 22 and 23, were arrested in the Edge Hill area on suspicion of handling stolen goods and a 17-year-old from Toxteth was arrested on suspicion of a street robbery also in Edge Hill in which a mobile phone and i-Pod were stolen.
A man in Bootle was arrested in connection with three recent armed robberies at business premises and two teenagers were also arrested for separate robbery offences.
The enforcement activity was followed by visits by police to local betting shops, pawnbrokers, off licenses and convenience stores in areas where robberies have previously occurred to offer advice on how to improve their security and crime prevention measures.
“We are telling people it is wrong to handle or purchase stolen goods – it is far from the victimless crime that many people assume that it is.” said Chief Inspector Jenny Sims who heads the unit.
The approach has been used in other parts of Europe where police often work with agencies including Trading Standards to target markets and car boot sales seeking stolen goods as part of intelligence-led stings where stallholders are arrested and – in full view of other traders as part of a proactive warning – their assets are seized and their stalls closed down.
This approach has paid dividends in Germany for example where officers even work with packaging manufacturers to identify specially etched boxes that clearly state that items can only be purchased through certain retail stores – so by default they are stolen.
In one raid, a market trader and two associates were arrested in Bocham, near Dusseldorf in connection with the illegal trade in stolen goods. The trader had his business closed down and his assets seized by German police after they had been tipped off about €30,000 worth of stolen L’Oreal Mascara believed to be on his stall. The authorities had been informed that L’Oreal cosmetics sporting the engraving ‘Only for Sale at DM Drogerie’, had been spotted on stalls at the monthly market. Consequently, the police acted swiftly and decisively, sending 10 officers to make their arrest and seizure in scenes reminiscent of a drugs raid.
This operation was part of a bigger ‘sting’ which had seen 85 police officers and trading standards officials issue 38 search warrants in six other German towns at the same time. As a result of those raids, a total of €400,000 worth of stolen goods were recovered.
Back on Merseyside, the campaign is also extended to wider business crime. Criminals are being warned 'not to bother' trying to rob bookmakers on Merseyside due to improved security measures within the industry and a continued crackdown by the police.
The force's Matrix Serious and Organised Crime unit (MSOC) arrested 17 people believed to have been involved in acquisitive crime.
