Braintree: Town centre retailers trial TownLink radio

A radio information-sharing scheme to help retailers combat shoplifting has been expanded into Braintree town centre.

TownLink radio has been operating in George Yard since 2019 and now the shopping centre, working with our Business Crime Team, has extended the scheme for a three-month trial to other businesses in the surrounding town centre.

Inspector Phil Jackson, of Braintree Community Policing Team, welcomes the trial. He says:

“TownLink provides vital reassurance to retailers by allowing better information-sharing between businesses, which can only be a good thing.
“The George Yard scheme has already proved a great success and we are delighted the shopping centre is giving nearby businesses the opportunity to experience the benefits of TownLink, too.
“We encourage retailers to report shop thefts, assaults on staff and anti-social behaviour to police in the usual way.
“But TownLink comes into its own when our officers are responding to reports of a crime in progress or security staff have detained an offender.
“Store staff can use the radio to keep us and each other informed of a suspect’s whereabouts, which allows us to arrest them more swiftly and bring them to justice.”

George Yard centre manager Dan Foley says:

“Our internal radio scheme allows us to ensure we support each other in providing the safest and best customer service for all our visitors.
“And now, working closely with Essex Police has presented us with a fantastic opportunity to extend the scheme to include the town centre.
“My team and I are looking forward to collaborating with other retailers to continue helping to prevent crime and reduce anti-social behaviour that would otherwise negatively affect us all.”

PC Mike Lee, of our Business Crime Team, adds:

“The TownLink radio scheme enables businesses to support each other by exchanging information instantly, which can help to prevent incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour from happening in the first place.
“We work closely with businesses to understand their needs and priorities, while providing them with specialised crime prevention advice to help to keep their staff, customers and premises safe and secure, reducing opportunities for shoplifters.
“By building relationships with the business community, we are able to provide owners, managers and staff with guidance on staying safe in the workplace and explain policing processes and court procedures.
“This includes giving them an understanding of the evidence, such as witness statements and CCTV footage, we need to identify offenders and build strong court cases against them.
“And we also use the information they provide us to identify emerging crime trends and target our operational activity accordingly.”

The trial is free of charge to local retailers in Braintree town centre. If you want to know more, visit our Business Crime Team pages and click on Contact Business Crime Team.

Here, you can also find out more about how to report crime affecting your business as well as specialised crime prevention advice.

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