Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, John Dwyer, has launched a new initiative designed to expose the true scale and cost of business crime across the county.
John Dwyer explained "Tackling business crime is one of my key priorities in my Police & Crime Plan. In order to gain an understanding of the seriousness of crime against businesses I am undertaking this 'Crime against Business' survey."
The aim of the survey is to provide the Commissioner with a better understanding of the nature, cost and extent of crime against business within Cheshire so that he can hold the Chief Constable to account and ensure that any problems are tackled in the most appropriate and effective ways.
The survey will identify how widespread crime against business is and its cost to business and industry. It will cover everything from shoplifting to fraud, internal theft to cyber crime.
The Commissioner's interest in business crime and its impact on the business community comes from his own experiences. After retiring as Cheshire's Assistant Chief Constable twelve years ago, Mr Dwyer was involved in a number of businesses enterprises.
John Dwyer said "During my time as a management and security consultant, I was approached by a number of businesses to offer advice on security. In most of the cases I was involved with, the criminal activity suffered by firms was a result of ineffective security and the absence of robust in-house policies designed to deter illegal activity.
"Having the right preventative systems in place can offer a business real protection from crime whether the problem is shoplifting or internal pilfering. It was during my time as a consultant that I realised the true extent of business crime might not be reflected in official figures because not all activity may be reported to the authorities.
"My Business Crime Survey will give an assessment of the levels of crime and the range of criminal activities being experienced by companies large and small across the county. The economic challenges of recent years have presented our business community with enough problems without having to cope with the impact of business crime. That's why I intend to do everything I can to assist the business community."
Mr Dwyer heard some of the concerns of the business community when he met with representatives from Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses, manufacturers' organisations and the Institute of Directors earlier this year. They talked about their concerns and explained how they were particularly eager to do more to help businesses combat online credit card fraud and metal theft. They were also worried that some business owners seemed to accept losses from crime as inevitable.
John Dwyer added, "In this economic climate, the police and businesses need to work together. I have seen some great work being done by the police with local businesses at ground level; for example, in helping to prevent people making off from fuel stations without paying."
Click here to take part in the business crime survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes.
Comments
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I look forward to a response from John Dwyer but I'm not holding my breath.
Perhaps the Commissioner and his staff would like to investigate this disparity and see if they can uncover the truth for those who have paid for it.