Safer Business Action Week (SaBA Week) took place last week (w/c 10th November 2025) and once again demonstrated the positive impact that can be achieved when police,technology providers business crime reduction partnerships, local authorities and retailers work together.
Although SentrySIS operates nationally and supports business crime partnerships, retailers and police forces across the UK, this year’s SaBA Week placed a particular emphasis on Devon, Cornwall and the wider South Coast. This regional focus allowed partners to build on established relationships, accelerate new initiatives and demonstrate the value of coordinated business crime prevention at scale.
Across Devon, Cornwall and the wider South Coast region, SentrySIS partners delivered an outstanding programme of engagement, enforcement, prevention and community support. This year’s activity also marked a major milestone for the region, as retailers in Devon and Cornwall can now report shoplifting directly to the police through SentrySIS. The rollout builds on and follows the already successful work delivered by UK Partners Against Crime (UKPAC) in Hampshire, where the model has proved highly effective.
The scale and success of the week reflects the dedication of partners such as Devon and Cornwall Police, UK Partners Against Crime (UKPAC), Exeter Business Against Crime (EBAC), Plymouth Against Retail Crime (PARC), local Business Improvement Districts and Neighbourhood Policing Teams. Each organisation played a key role in supporting businesses, tackling prolific offenders, strengthening intelligence sharing and improving reporting pathways.
What Is Safer Business Action Week?
Safer Business Action Week (SaBA Week) is a nationally coordinated week of action led by the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC). It brings police forces, business crime reduction partnerships, retailers and local authorities together to focus on reducing business crime, improving intelligence sharing and supporting frontline staff.
The aim of SaBA Week is to create a visible and proactive policing presence in retail and business areas, helping to deter offending, support victims and highlight the importance of reporting incidents. Forces take part through targeted operations, business engagement events, joint patrols and crime prevention activity, all designed to improve safety and build confidence among businesses.
The week also raises awareness of the tools, services and partnership frameworks available to help reduce crime, such as digital reporting systems, business crime partnerships, exclusion schemes and intelligence sharing networks. By coordinating efforts across the country, SaBA Week ensures that local activity aligns with national priorities and helps forces demonstrate their commitment to tackling retail crime effectively.
Direct to Police Reporting: A Major Step Forward for Retailers in Devon and Cornwall
One of the biggest achievements highlighted during SaBA Week was the successful launch of Direct to Police Reporting through SentrySIS. Retailers across the force area can now submit non emergency shop thefts straight into the Devon and Cornwall Police contact centre through the platform.
This upgrade allows retailers to build CPS compliant MG11 witness statements by answering a few simple questions, upload in-store CCTV, attach images of suspects and assign till receipts, all from within the SentrySIS system. Businesses no longer need to visit the force website to report incidents separately or wait for officers to attend store. This new way of working removes delays and ensures digital evidence reaches the police in a clear, organised and usable format.
SentrySIS is already well established across the region through UKPAC, EBAC and PARC, and Direct to Police Reporting was a natural next step in the collective effort to improve reporting quality, increase prosecutions and reduce retail crime. The approach has already proved highly successful in Hampshire over the last 6 months, delivering measurable cost savings and efficiency gains for both the police and retailers using the scheme.
Recent investigations during SaBA Week demonstrated the benefits of this approach, including:
- A man from Torbay charged with 11 counts of shop theft. One of the offences was reported using SentrySIS direct to police reporting.
- A prolific offender in Teignmouth charged with 14 offences, 12 of which were retail crimes.
- An individual in Exeter arrested, charged and remanded following proactive SaBA enforcement activity.
These results show how robust reporting and good intelligence sharing help police build stronger cases and take repeat offenders off the streets.
A Fully Funded Scheme Supporting Local Businesses
The rollout of UKPAC across Devon and Cornwall continues to be fully funded for 12 months by the Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez. This funding enables local retailers to access the UKPAC scheme and the SentrySIS platform at no cost during the initial period, removing barriers for smaller and independent businesses to report shoplifting incidents directly to Devon and Cornwall Police.
Alison Hernandez said: “Businesses will experience the benefits of joined-up intelligence and partnership working with no cost and no obligation to continue after the 12 month trial period.” Alison continuted and said “I am delighted that UKPAC is now being funded by my office for a year. I encourage other local areas to get in touch with my office for more details because we are committed to delivering it to those who want it.”
This model builds on the success already seen in Hampshire where a similar scheme has been funded by Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones. Hampshire retailers have benefited from increased engagement, improved intelligence sharing and more efficient reporting. Hampshire Police have also seen cost and efficiency savings which have allowed frontline policing resources to be diverted to other in need services. The same positive impact is now being delivered across Devon and Cornwall.
Dorset: A Week of Engagement, Intelligence and Action
UKPAC Crime Manager Steven Manners led a busy and highly productive schedule across Dorset during SaBA Week. Working closely with BIDs, councils and Dorset Police, the teams delivered a wide range of activity under the shared Against Business Crime banner. Here is a summary of the partnership work Steven Manners at UKPAC has been doing over SaBA Week.
- Visits with BCP Council CSAS and the ASB Team
- UKPAC BCLO and Dorset Police engaging with local shops
- Businesses supported with intelligence sharing advice
- 2 known out of area individuals identified
- Arrest achieved through liaison with town centre cameras
- Attendance at the monthly meeting
- Seasonal trends and intelligence sharing discussed
- Partnership patrols with Dorset Police Poole NPT, UKPAC and SWL Street Wardens
- Section 35 orders issued
- Multiple shoplifting offences addressed
- New intelligence uploaded into SentrySIS
- Strong support from plain clothes and uniformed officers
- Full BCRP meeting with BCP Council, Dorset Police Inspectors and Sergeants, UKPAC and key retailers
- Focus on exclusion schemes, key nominals and future planning
- Crime prevention presentation delivered by Claire Davis
- Official launch of UKPAC in Christchurch
- 12 month BID funded access for levy payers
- UKPAC and CSAS officer engagement in the town
Bournemouth Night Time Economy
- Hotel, pub and club visits with Townwatch
- Evening engagement with businesses despite heavy rain
- Charminster Day of Action
- Joint activity with local police
- Retailers supported with advice and engagement
This programme reinforced UKPAC’s message that every week is SaBA Week for the team, but the national campaign provides a valuable opportunity to showcase the scale of local partnership work.
Plymouth: Strengthening Relationships and Supporting Local Businesses
Sergeant Chris Chaloner at Devon & Cornwall Police led a number of activities across Plymouth, working with Neighbourhood Policing Teams and SentrySIS users Plymouth Against Retail Crime (PARC) and their Rangers. PARC, which uses the SentrySIS platform as part of its business crime reduction work, played a key role throughout the week by supporting joint patrols, engaging with retailers and helping police gather important intelligence from the local business community.
- Engagement with retailers and security staff across the city
- Discussions focused on challenges, intelligence sharing and support
- Joint patrols with PARC Rangers whose daily engagement provides invaluable local insight
- Promotion of the PARC scheme in Plymouth and the wider UKPAC scheme, which is fully funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner for a limited period.
- Retailers encouraged to use the platform to upload CCTV and share intelligence
- Police highlighting the importance of accurate reporting to help build robust cases
This support is reinforced by Plymouth City Council, Safer Plymouth and the wider policing priorities under the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Torbay, Teignmouth and Exeter: Engagement, Prevention and Direct Action
Across the wider Devon and Cornwall area, SaBA Week brought partners together to deliver focused engagement, targeted enforcement and proactive business support. The activity in Torbay, Teignmouth and Exeter highlighted just how effective coordinated partnership working can be when tackling retail crime at a local level.
Torquay and Paignton Business Information Sessions
- UKPAC hosting drop in sessions for retailers
- Businesses learning how partnership working can help reduce crime
- Support from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner
- Joint patrols with Neighbourhood Policing Teams and Town Centre Officers
Teignmouth
- Rollout of UKPAC across the town
- Promotion of reporting and partnership working
- A prolific offender charged following strong evidence gathering
Exeter
Exeter has fully embraced Direct to Police Reporting, with strong leadership from Exeter Business Against Crime (EBAC) and visible support from Exeter City Council. Retailers across the city have been quick to adopt the new reporting pathway, recognising the benefits of producing CPS compliant MG11 statements, uploading CCTV and sharing intelligence directly with police from within SentrySIS. EBAC has played a central role in training businesses, promoting consistent reporting standards and ensuring that high quality information flows efficiently to investigating officers. Exeter City Council has backed the initiative, working alongside police and EBAC to encourage adoption, strengthen local crime prevention efforts and help deliver a more coordinated approach to tackling shoplifting and antisocial behaviour across the city.
- Visits to Co op stores with Exeter Business Against Crime (EBAC) Crime Manager Andy Sharman and retail partners
- Positive discussions with managers and frontline staff about day to day challenges, emerging crime trends and prevention measures
- EBAC supporting police through real time intelligence submissions, offender identification and business engagement
- Strengthened collaboration with local security teams and store leaders, ensuring intelligence is quickly shared through SentrySIS
- Andy Sharman playing a key role in coordinating feedback from businesses, building partnerships and improving reporting quality across the city
- Arrest of an outstanding suspect during SaBA enforcement activity, further reinforced by intelligence supplied through EBAC and its members
Newton Abbot
- Pop up desks encouraging businesses to meet police and UKPAC
- Evening presentation to councillors and local businesses
- Strong input from the PCC highlighting the importance of reporting
- Early signs suggesting Newton Abbot can become a leading crime reporting community
The achievements seen across Devon and Cornwall during Safer Business Action Week are the result of close collaboration between police, retailers and crime reduction partnerships. SentrySIS plays a key part in this ecosystem by equipping police forces with advanced digital tools that streamline reporting, improve investigative capability and enable meaningful intelligence sharing across the region.
Police constabularies can benefit from using the SentrySIS applications dedicated to helping the police become more efficient. Here is an overview of some benefits and features the SentrySIS system provides:
- A secure, cloud based intelligence and investigation system
- Direct to Police Reporting for shoplifting and non emergency crime
- CPS compliant MG11 witness statements
- Digital evidence submission including CCTV, images and files
- Real time intelligence flows from retailers and BCRPs
- Advanced search across nominals, vehicles and incidents
- POLE based data modelling for better intelligence linking
- Digital witness statement tools
- Centralised management of prolific offenders
- Cross border intelligence sharing
- Audit trails and compliance controls
- Secure environments aligned to policing and government standards
How SentrySIS Supports Crime Partnerships, BIDs and Retailers
Business crime partnerships, BIDs and retailers play a central role in keeping high streets, shopping centres and local communities safe. Their success depends on timely intelligence, effective communication and collaborative problem solving. SentrySIS strengthens this ecosystem by providing secure digital tools that help partnerships share information, support members and reduce the impact of retail crime.
Crime partnerships can benefit from using the SentrySIS applications designed to improve efficiency, streamline intelligence flows and enhance communication between businesses and local policing teams. Here is an overview of some of the benefits and features the SentrySIS system provides:
- A centralised offender database
- Incident and intelligence sharing across retailers and partners
- Live alerts on local offenders
- Tools to submit CCTV, images and descriptions
- Exclusion scheme management
- Real time messaging and communication
- Partnership wide intelligence dashboards
- Customisable data sharing settings for BCRPs
- Profile scrub reports to help with GDPR compliance
- Subject Access Request tools
- Controlled sharing with neighbouring partnerships
- Mobile and desktop access for frontline teams
These features support business engagement, reduce losses and help communities feel safer.
A Strong and Positive Week for the South West
Safer Business Action Week once again demonstrated the power of partnership working. From Torbay to Poole and from Plymouth to Teignmouth, the combined efforts of police, retailers, councils, BCRPs and technology partners created visible and meaningful results.
SentrySIS is proud to support this work by providing secure digital tools that make reporting easier, strengthen intelligence sharing and help partners tackle retail crime more effectively. As Direct to Police Reporting becomes embedded across Devon and Cornwall and more towns adopt UKPAC, retailers will continue to benefit from streamlined processes, better communication and quicker outcomes.
SaBA Week 2025 has shown that when everyone works together, communities become safer, offenders are held accountable and businesses feel more supported.