5
Dec
2014
By Calvin at 09:40 GMT, 11 years ago
From Hampshire Police
Police in Portsmouth are speaking with owners of smaller shops in the city after an increase in the number of premises being targeted by thieves.
Since the beginning of November there have been just over 80 reports of burglaries at smaller shops and independent retailers in residential areas of Portsmouth.
For those of you who live locally here’s a list of the roads affected: London Road (North End), Kingston Road (North End/Fratton)’ Tangier Road (Baffins)’ Copnor Road (Copnor), Milton Road (Eastney), Havant Road (Drayton), Osborne Road (Southsea), Commercial Road (City Centre)
In each case cash or electrical items have been stolen overnight.
Inspector James Stewart said: “This is happening throughout the city, it’s not confined to one area.
“Smaller shops often have less security measures in place and are accessible by alleyways making it less likely offender(s) will be seen.
“We are doing all we can to identify who may be responsible. In addition we would ask you to please contact us with any information which may help. Have you seen suspicious activity? Have you been offered items for sale which may be stolen?”
Crime Prevention Advisor Sarah Cohen said: “We are advising smaller shop owners in Portsmouth not to leave cash or valuable items on the premises at night. Neighbourhood Policing teams have also given out signs to put in the windows to advertise the fact that no cash is left in the store.
“Any security devices such as CCTV and alarms should always be activated, please do the best you can to protect your property.”
Further security advice can be found on their website here: http://www.hampshire.police.uk/internet/advice-and-information/
TCPW Comment: I do worry about small shopkeepers throughout the UK who are sometimes forgotten about by the media and statistics. I recall one shopkeeper victim I met who lost his entire weekly takings on the build up to Xmas. His was a start-up business with little cash to spend on security and with just him in the shop he found it difficult to get to the bank each day. He hadn’t got around to buying an insurance rated safe and had hidden the cash in a place he thought would be safe – in the back of a fridge! The theft almost put him out of business. Yes, he made mistakes, but he most certainly learnt from them and now follows sensible security procedures to safeguard his business and his livelihood.
This is the second business crime story I’ve published today and for good reason. I’ve just started writing some new advice pages for businesses, which I will start publishing in January. It’s quite a task, but having received a lot of emails from business owners over the past few weeks I thought the time was now right to expand the website into new areas. Watch this space.
