Assurance on town's retail crime detection

Businesses and shops in Stratford town centre are being assured that police are always informed of any crimes or suspicious activity picked up by CCTV. Stratford-on-Avon District Council, which provides the CCTV service, is also continuing its close work with Stratford Retail Radio Link, the only such system in the town, to protect shops and businesses.  

The reassurance for the town's businesses follows comments made by a businessman proposing to set up another radio link scheme, who alleged that any shops not in either the proposed or existing scheme would not be covered by CCTV. However this is not true, as any suspicious or illegal activity seen by the CCTV operators is reported to the police immediately, regardless of whether the shop involved is a member of the current retail radio link scheme or not.

"All shops and properties in Stratford-upon-Avon town centre are covered by the Council's CCTV cameras," said Cllr Chris Williams, Portfolio Holder for Community Services. "In the last year alone, 535 arrests were made as a direct result of CCTV.  

"The District Council is also a member of the Stratford Retail Radio Link, which allows the CCTV operators to contact other members of the scheme using a radio. This scheme has successfully operated in the town since the mid 1990s.  

"The Police and Stratford-on-Avon District Council formally support the professionalism, codes of conduct, and protocols of the scheme, which operates to the highest national standards. 

It still protects those shops which are not part of the scheme, as well as shops and businesses which are members of Stratford Retail Radio Link.  

"Our initial concern is that running more than one scheme could cause confusion and might actually reduce the effectiveness of the service.  

"We have been approached by another scheme operator inviting us to join a new retail radio link in Stratford-upon-Avon, using a separate radio system to contact shops. We will discuss this with the Police, our partners in the town and with other councils.  

"Any decision will therefore be based on what best helps keep people, businesses and shops in the town safe."