Business 495 crime incidents reported in five months

Almost 500 crime incidents against businesses have been reported in the last five months in the Peterborough Business Improvement District (BID) area.

The figures have been released by the BID, which represents more than 400 businesses in the centre of Peterborough, following the launch of its Peterborough Business Crime Partnership app.

But the BID says the figures are likely to be just part of the city’s true crime picture and are urging more of its members to sign with the app.

The app is powered by Disc, which is an online platform and digital application helping businesses share information and report crimes, and includes galleries of known offenders, news alerts and ‘exclusion schemes’ which are all accessible 24/7.

The figures show that since the launch of the app in Peterborough last November, 495 incidents of crime have been reported. The total losses due to theft are said to amount to £31,175 while the total losses recovered total £17,877.

Members of Peterborough BID have reported 266 ‘known offenders’ and a further 150 ‘unknown offenders.’

Talking about the app, a BID spokesman said: “Membership is currently at 150 businesses and we can’t emphasise enough how crucial it is to regularly log-in, view galleries, identify unknown offenders and view all the current news and alerts. It’s also very important that businesses continue to submit incidents of business crime to the partnership system.”

Just 10 weeks ago, police revealed they were working with retailers to tackle a large rise in shoplifting.

Businesses in Peterborough city centre used a crime alert app to report 495 incidents in just five months