Shoplifting among targets of new West Mercia Police teams
New police teams in town centers will focus on addressing shoplifting and anti-social behavior, according to a statement from the local law enforcement agency.
West Merica Police announced that their officers will be collaborating closely with businesses in 10 different locations throughout Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire.
The teams will visit Evesham, Hereford, Kidderminster, Leominster, Oswestry, Redditch, Ross-on-Wye, Shrewsbury, Telford, and Worcester starting this week.
The police force selected the locations based on input from the community, as well as considering the size and amount of activity in each area.
Assistant Chief Constable Grant Wills said that the community desires to have police officers present in the center of their neighborhoods.
The new teams will collaborate closely with nearby stores and enterprises "to proactively address the crimes that have the most impact on them," he explained.
This section discussed how they handled shoplifting cases by arresting suspects and solving long-term problems with a proactive approach.
The Office for National Statistics reported that police in England and Wales recorded over 430,000 incidents of shoplifting last year, which is the highest number since police records began in 2003.
The police teams in the town center are receiving funding from John Campion, who is the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), as part of his budget for the year 2024-25.
The Police and Crime Commissioner stated that they have heeded, responded to, and successfully implemented the requests of the community to establish specific police teams for our town centers.