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Officers from Nottinghamshire Police’s Hucknall beat ream, members of Ashfield Council and town centre shops and businesses all attended the first meeting of the new Hucknall Business Crime Forum.

The forum has been launched with funding from the Safer Streets initiative and had been made available through the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s office and the council.

The core goal is to support local shops and businesses, to prevent and deter shop thefts and anti-social behaviour (ASB) issues.

The police will lead the scheme and chair meetings, but will be supported by the local community protection teams.

The first meeting of the new Hucknall Business Crime Forum has taken place

Posting on their Facebook page, Ashfield Police said: “As part of the forum, a shop watch scheme will be introduced over the next month.

"This involves retail premises being connected to the police, community protection officers, CCTV and each other.

“This will allow stores to report suspicious individuals, to then be able to track them through the town centre, by alerting other members on the scheme, which will allow for live updates to the CCTV operators and police.

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“Police-chaired meetings will be held regularly, involving local shops and businesses to discuss individuals repeatedly offending and to develop a problem solving approach together.

"This will include criminal behaviour orders being sought, banning individuals offending from the town centre.

"With information-sharing agreements in place the forum, will be able to share images of the problem individuals, along with any criminal behaviour conditions they are subject too.

“This is not just about shop thefts and ASB issues.

"By working with shops and CCTV, officers can be directed to other concerns such as begging, drunkenness, public order issues, to hopefully increase feelings of safety for local shop workers and the community when visiting Hucknall town centre."

More than 20 businesses in Hucknall have already signed up to become ‘Safe Space’ accredited by having high-definition CCTV devices installed at their town centre premises to provide high-level coverage in the town.

If you have a store or business operating in Hucknall town centre and would like to be part of the forum, please email [email protected] with your contact details.

New Hucknall Business Crime Forum holds its first meeting