Birmingham’s recently formed crime partnership, City Safe, is the latest organisation to adopt the SentrySIS Business Crime reporting and monitoring software to help tackle retail crime in the area.
Led by Retail BID Birmingham, City Safe is working in partnership with West Midlands Police, British Transport Police and Birmingham City Council to provide the city with a multi-agency approach towards crime and anti-social behaviour.
City Safe has already seen the benefits of the partnership through its ‘state of the art’ radio network that has been operational since Summer 2018. Now with the addition of the SentrySIS Business Crime platform, retailers can securely share and disseminate images and CCTV of offenders in real-time to make the city centre safer for residents, staff and visitors.
Jonathan Cheetham, City Safe Birmingham’s Business Manager commented on the partnership and said: “Since inception, the Bid has been committed to making the City a safer, more welcoming place for our visitors and citizens, working closely alongside our businesses, West Midlands Police, British Transport Police and Birmingham City Council. Having created a secure digital radio network we needed the ability to compliantly and securely collate and share data and information which was relevant to our members enabling much greater protection for their businesses against criminal acts and Anti- social behaviours.
Jonathan continued and said: “Having reviewed a number of solutions, SentrySIS was chosen as our preferred platform for its far reaching capabilities and reporting. The SentrySIS platform has proven to be simple and intuitive to use and an incredibly effective tool, allowing City Safe members to easily identify and share information in real time, and it has already delivered a number of successes in reducing and identifying crime and its effects’’.
The wider SentrySIS crime strategy across Birmingham and other West Midland’s locations is to allow business improvement districts, crime partnerships and their members to use the SentrySIS Business Crime platform to make their area safer through a collaborative focus. This will allow intelligence to be shared over a larger geographical area to prevent offenders from committing retail crime in the West Midlands.
Discussions are already underway to investigate the possibility for retailers to report crime directly to West Midlands Police through the SentrySIS Business Crime platform. The software automatically produces an evidence pack that includes MG11 Witness Statements, CCTV and other necessary documentation and exhibits the police need to conduct an investigation.
Commenting on the new partnership and future developments, Chris Nriapia from SentrySIS said: “We are really pleased to be part of this city-wide initiative to make the UK’s second largest city a much safer place. The Retail Bid have already outlined their exciting future plans to make the West Midlands a safer place for residents and visitors with Birmingham at the heart of their strategy. Equally, we welcome the forward thinking direction of West Midlands Police towards these new ways of working that bring innovation to how policing operates.”
Retailers within the Birmingham Retail Bid District can find out more information about City Safe by visiting their website at https://citysafebirmingham.co.uk/ or by contacting 0121 389 8809.
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Notes to editors
For more information please contact:
Jonathan Cheetham, City Safe Business Manager on 0121 389 8809
Chris Poole, City Safe Business Liaison Officer on 0121 389 8809
Chris Nriapia, SentrySIS on 0844 474 0100
Editorial credit: Copycat37, jax10289 & Miguel Dovale