Walton launches ‘Business Crime Partnership’
Walton-on-Thames BID launches Business Crime Partnership using DISC
Walton-on-Thames BID has launched its Business Crime Partnership (WBCP) at the height of the festive shopping season to enhance safety, discourage anti-social behaviour and support local businesses impacted by crime.
The WBCP allow businesses and community members, including pubs outside of the main BID zone, to swiftly report crime incidents and share information on troublemakers and offenders, using DISC.
DISC, used by over 500 UK towns, fosters collaboration, enables real-time updates through data-protected messaging and creates a database of information and incidents, in particular prolific offenders, for Surrey Police to use to investigate crimes.
Tracey Palmer, Walton BID Manager, said “it was Christmas time last year that The Heart Shopping Centre raised to me the level of anti-social behaviour and retail theft had really accelerated in the autumn months. Having heard about the rise in Retail Crime at the November 2023 British BIDs conference, I decided it was vital for our BID Board to consider DISC as a solution to support our businesses and their employees”.
BID Board member, Mark Middleton, Centre Manager of The Heart states “We feel that it’s vital to prioritise keeping our town centre safe from crime and anti-social behaviour, and deterring individuals who feel it is appropriate to intimidate our employees. We also need a solution that provides evidence, across the whole town, of prolific offenders, to enable our policing team to investigate and ultimately convict based on a wealth of evidence”.
BID Board Chairman, Ned Clarke, General Manager of The Walton Village Pub and Chair of the Walton & Hersham Pub Watch backed the investment in DISC for several reasons “This is an excellent investment in our town’s collective defence against street, and store-level crime and anti-social behaviour. The system is proven to streamline incident reporting for businesses on high streets around the UK. It elevates transparency for business to spot trends, and increases accountability for those causing issues for residents, shop-owners and the general public, whilst delivering the exact information required for law enforcement to follow up and reduces strain on their call centres. He continues ‘The creation of WCBP and the use of DISC will empower our community to tackle crime collectively, creating a safer, nicer experience of our town for everyone”.
Find out more about the WBCP and DISC
At the same time as launching DISC, with funding by Elmbridge Borough Council Community Safety, Crimestoppers (a national charity) has started a campaign for our community to remind them they have the opportunity to report anonymously information, which can be passed to the police. The campaign includes a festive card to addresses across KT12 and KT13 and posters for lampposts in the area. Other initiatives for early 2025 include businesses holding cards which give out the phone or online link to Crimestoppers website and posters in business toilets or community noticeboards.
