Council bids to reduce retail robberies

Following a series of armed robberies in the town, the Council's environmental health department is joining forces with Greater Manchester Police to try and tackle the problem.

In a new initiative designed to help businesses and their staff deal with violence; health and safety advisors and police are visiting businesses previously targeted by robbers or those at risk of becoming victims.

The aim is to provide comprehensive advice on simple and effective measures that businesses should be taking to protect their staff and reduce the likelihood of violence. This information will also be available in a guidance pack which will be distributed to businesses.

The initiative, which has been successful in Salford and Bury, has already been welcomed by firms at Sandbrook Park following a number of incidents in recent months. New security measures have now been put into place and the advice given by the police has been well received.

Rochdale Council hopes that with this initiative in place they will be able to monitor the crime levels within the retail sector more accurately. Previously the only way in which they would know about a robbery is if the employer contacted them directly. Now, a system is in place whereby the council will be notified by GMP of all violent or potentially violent crime including commercial robberies and cash-in-transit robberies. Once this information is received it will be transferred onto a database and those at highest risk will be visited and advised on staff training, cash handling, secure areas of working and more.

Councillor Ted Flynn, cabinet member for Community Safety on Rochdale Council said: "By working with the crime reduction advisors at Greater Manchester Police we are able to share information so that we can target those businesses most at risk from armed robberies or other forms of violence. We hope to see a fundamental change in behaviour amongst retail businesses by improving security and safety standards.”