Greater Manchester Police is claiming to be the first in the UK to adopt a force-wide policy to tackle drive-off crime on forecourts.
The announcement came as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported an increase in crime across all retail sectors of 9% last year, to reach £2.13bn, according to its 2004 Annual Retail Crime Survey. Greater Manchester Police is claiming to be the first in the UK to adopt a force-wide policy to tackle drive-off crime on forecourts.
The announcement came as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported an increase in crime across all retail sectors of 9% last year, to reach £2.13bn, according to its 2004 Annual Retail Crime Survey. Violence against retail staff was up with reports of verbal abuse up 35% and physical abuse up 14%.
Meanwhile the Greater Manchester Police initiative, developed in partnership with the British Oil Security Syndicate (BOSS), will establish a new regional Forecourt Watch scheme starting on December 1. This will be preceeded by a series of seminars throughout November where retailers will be invited to discuss their requirements and expectations, as well as re-cap on general Forecourt Watch procedures.
John Turtle, BOSS regional co-ordinator, said: “This is particularly exciting because it is the first time an entire force has unified its policy on dealing with the offence of ‘Making off without Payment’ regarding the purchase of fuel from service stations.
“With officers in GMP working with retailers to follow practical Forecourt Watch procedures for dealing with the offence, would-be ‘bilkers’ will soon find that there are no pockets of vulnerable sites across the area and should therefore expect to be dealt with severely if they commit such a criminal offence.”
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