Police crime prevention at the Ocean Plaza retail park in Southport

Retail shops in the town centre and out of town retail parks are regularly visited by neighbourhood Police Officers and PCSO’s as part of their regular duties.

Yesterday Constable Nelson-Verrechia  attended Ocean Plaza and Central 12 Retail Parks in Southport as part of a crime prevention day, providing advice on theft reduction. Constable Nelson-Verrechia spoke to store managers from multiple stores including, Dunelm Mill, Pets at Home, Pound Stretcher, Matalan, Next and Mountain Warehouse. 

Whilst attending these stores we continued fostering partnerships between police and our retail community, giving them advice on things they can do and potentially put in place to deter theft in their stores. Advice included suggestions such as; shop floor presence and greetings at the door, product placement advice, potential opportunities to place mirrors in the stores, advice surrounding CCTV and linking in with other stores in the area. Constable Nelson-Verrechia also encouraged stores to ensure they report these incidents to us, as it helps build a bigger picture of issues in the area, and Neighbourhood Officers may well be able to identify offenders through local knowledge. Tangible reports may assist in asking for changes to their area managers. 

As these stores are on car parks, Constable Nelson-Verrechia made store and security staff aware of catalytic converter theft issues that are ongoing, and provided information on this, that they can pass onto their colleagues to make them aware of how they can report this and what signs to spot for a potential catalytic converter theft. 

More detail on catalytic converter theft will follow later on today. 

Regular contact with our retail community and town centre agency partners will continue.