Police for Banbury area launch new website for businesses to report retail crime

The Disc site is an online and app platform designed for businesses and shops to share information with each other with the aim of reducing retail crime.

Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley Police, said: “Over recent months, I have been engaging with retailers across the Thames Valley to understand the challenges they face with regards to retail crime. Retail crime has a profound impact on staff, customers, and the wider economy. However, it remains significantly underreported both in Thames Valley and across the country.

“With the implementation of Disc, we will make reporting retail crime easier and more efficient. The ease of information sharing between retailers themselves and directly with the police will make a difference to the security and confidence of businesses, with increased intelligence supporting a more targeted policing response.

“I am continuing to engage retailers on how business and policing can better work together to tackle these issues, and I’m currently developing a wider retail strategy, of which Disc forms a part, to deliver a more visible, targeted, and robust response.”

Disc also has information about known offenders in the area and contains an alert system where retailers can send and receive email alerts about any immediate threats.

Police hope the new platform will make reporting retail crime faster and more efficient, as crime reports can be submitted directly through Disc, removing the need for people to report via 101.

For more information, visit, https://discagainstcrime.com/