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Stirling’s retailers are invited to a crime intelligence briefing which will focus on current methods used by shoplifters and show footage of actual thefts taking place.
They will have the chance to learn about shoplifting tricks and trends and how to get the most from a specialised crime-fighting tool available to city centre business owners.
The meeting, hosted by Go Forth Stirling Business Improvement District (BID) and Retailers Against Crime (RAC), takes place in the Golden Lion Hotel at 9.30am on Tuesday September 16.
It is the second of three themed briefings aimed at providing shop owners with support and solutions to combat the ongoing rise in retail crime.
Go Forth’s Community Engagement and Business Improvement Officer Fiona McMillan said: “As your BID, we take city centre safety seriously – for our businesses, residents and visitors – and are focused on doing everything we can to help business owners tackle retail crime and anti-social behaviour.
“As part of that remit, we’re hosting three meetings in partnership with RAC and urge anyone who runs a business in the city centre to come along, learn from the retail crime experts and join us to present a united front and send a message that Stirling is not a place which is open for crime.”
The first briefing in July sparked a lively discussion among local traders who heard about the work of RAC and the SentrySIS (Secure Intelligence System) device which allows users to view real-time information and alerts about thefts and other crimes happening in the city.
Go Forth covers the cost of RAC membership for all BID levy-paying members giving them access to the SentrySIS platform to report crime, receive alerts about criminal activity and create evidence logs to help police detect offences.
September’s briefing will highlight the MOs (modus operandi) used by shoplifters, demonstrate footage of actual thefts taking place and show attendees how to input incidents and fully utilise SentrySIS.
The presentation will be led by RAC Intelligence Co-ordinator Natasa Wilson.
She said: “We will be focusing on a few different MOs from our Retail Crime Techniques and taking a look into our crime intelligence system, SentrySIS.
“We’ll show retailers how the system works, explain what we at RAC do behind the scenes and show how it can directly benefit their stores. Our goal is to strengthen Stirling’s city centre community and we believe SentrySIS is the key to achieving that.”
Stephanie Karté, National Operations Manager at RAC, added: “I strongly encourage all Stirling businesses to attend the upcoming RAC meeting as well as the one scheduled for November.
“Getting involved and making full use of tools like SentrySIS and available support is vital in tackling retail theft and anti-social behaviour. Your participation plays a key role in keeping Stirling a safer place for businesses, employees and visitors alike. Together, we can make a real difference.”
The briefing takes place at the Golden Lion Hotel on King Street on Tuesday September 16 from 9:30am and anyone planning to come along should email admin@goforthstirling.co.uk to register their attendance.
The final briefing will also take place in the Golden Lion on Tuesday November 18.
Retailers Against Crime is a national retail crime partnership, established in 1997, which aims to detect and prevent crime by sharing information on local and travelling offenders with members and partners throughout the UK. More information is available on their website – www.retailersagainstcrime.org
Go Forth Stirling is the city’s BID representing more than 600 business owners with a key objective of increasing visitors to the city and devising initiatives to help make it a more welcoming destination for businesses and shoppers.
For more information visit www.goforthstirling.co.uk
