town-centre | Brixham Chamber

Report shoplifting and antisocial behaviour quickly and effectively

May 30, 2025

Police and Crime Commisioner Alison Hernandez announces the launch of a fully-funded year-long pilot in Torbay to provide businesses with free access to the UK Partners Against Crime (UKPAC) Business Crime Reduction Solution.

Retail crime and in particular theft and shoplifting is a serious concern across our communities — not only for the businesses directly affected, but for residents, visitors, and anyone who wants to see vibrant, thriving high streets.

It’s not just about financial loss. Crime and antisocial behaviour in our town centres damage confidence, discourage footfall, and impact people’s sense of safety.

That’s why I’m proud to announce the launch of a year-long pilot in Torbay, funded by my office, to provide businesses with free access to the UK Partners Against Crime (UKPAC) Business Crime Reduction Solution.

This innovative initiative gives local traders a powerful, user-friendly platform to report shoplifting, antisocial behaviour and other criminal activity quickly and effectively.

The UKPAC system — accessible via a secure online portal or smartphone app — enables businesses to submit incident reports, share intelligence, and work collectively to tackle persistent and repeat offenders. This shared approach allows police to build stronger, more detailed evidence files and to target their resources where they will have the greatest impact and reduces the time police officers have to spend building legal case files for court.

This initiative forms part of my wider Street Focus: Torquay programme, a multi-agency effort involving Devon & Cornwall Police, Torbay Council, SWISCo and others, focused on addressing the deep-rooted issues affecting Castle Circus and the town centre more broadly.

Retail crime is not an isolated issue. It affects entire communities. When a business experiences repeated shoplifting or abuse of staff, it takes a toll — not just on profitability, but on morale, safety, and the willingness of businesses to invest in our towns. That’s why I see supporting our business community as a core part of my mission to keep Devon and Cornwall safe.

With UKPAC, we are empowering traders to be part of the solution. Rather than asking small business owners to fill out time-consuming reports or chase follow-ups, this system simplifies the process. In just a few clicks, incidents can be logged, images and footage uploaded, and relevant information shared across the network.

More importantly, this information doesn’t just sit in a file — it becomes actionable intelligence. Patterns emerge. Repeat offenders can be identified more quickly. And crucially, it enables high-quality case files to be built that improve the likelihood of prosecution and conviction.

Businesses that sign up to UKPAC also benefit from access to discounted crime prevention tools and services — providing further support to protect their staff and premises. It’s a joined-up, practical approach to crime reduction that fits hand in glove with our broader partnership work in Torbay.

As Gareth Lewis, chairman of UKPAC, rightly said, the impact of business crime goes well beyond financial loss. It undermines confidence and can erode the very fabric of a community. By improving how we report, track, and respond to these crimes, we are sending a clear message: crime against businesses in Torbay will not be tolerated.

Inspector Rob Harvey and his neighbourhood policing team are already seeing the benefits of working with partners to tackle the issues affecting the high street. By incorporating data from UKPAC into their patrol planning and enforcement activity, they can target their efforts more effectively and respond faster to emerging problems.

It’s also worth remembering there are other similar schemes available for traders in other areas. For example, Exeter Business Against Crime has a successful crime reporting platform that has driven great results in the fight against shoplifting in the city centre. For more information visit https://ebac.org.uk/

This is just the beginning. My vision is that this pilot in Torbay will serve as a blueprint for other areas across Devon and Cornwall. We want to see our town centres bustling, welcoming and safe — places where businesses can thrive and where residents and visitors feel proud to spend their time.

If you are a business owner in Torbay and have been affected by crime or antisocial behaviour, I urge you to sign up. It takes just a few minutes to get started, but the impact could be long-lasting. Together, we can build a stronger, safer, and more resilient community.

For more information about the Street Focus: Torquay project, visit www.street-focus.co.uk/torquay

For more information about UKPAC and to sign up visit https://uk-pac.com/

Brixham Town Centre WhatsApp Group

Oct 7, 2021

Bob Higginson of The Chart Room and PCSO Karl Copik of Brixham Police have created a WhatsApp Group to enable traders to quickly share reports of suspected crime or anti-social behaviour in the town.

Bob said ” Brixham is generally a very safe place and the vast majority of locals and visitors are honest and law abiding. Unfortunately every now and then, like every town, we come across those who are intent on stealing from restaurants and shops or behaving disruptively. This WhatsApp group will allow us to alert other traders and the police about individuals or groups in the town who have left restaurants or cafes without paying their bill, who we suspect may be guilty of shop lifting, using stolen cards or counterfeit cash or who have caused trouble on our premises”.

If you have a business in the town, contact Bob Higginson to join the group.

New £420,000 high-tech CCTV centre

Oct 23, 2019

Police have launched a new £420,000 high-tech CCTV centre covering Torbay.

The Torbay system is the first of its kind in Devon and replaces ageing analogue cameras and wiring with state-of- the-art, high-resolution digital cameras.

The mostly wireless network now consists of more than 300 cameras and includes cover in areas where previously there was none.

The project to upgrade the system has been largely funded by Torbay Council with financial support from the Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez.

The PCC is supporting investment in compatible, high-specification systems that link into central centres, meaning monitoring is consistent and professional.

Once up and running, satellite towns can connect to the centres, creating a resilient network.

Before the programme launched, towns and cities across the South West had a multitude of mostly incompat-
ible systems, some of which were more than 15 years old.

Some of the equipment was no longer supported by manufacturers and burdened local authorities with high running costs.

The new systems also helps local authorities to comply with recent legislation about the holding and sharing of CCTV images.

As well as deterring crime and providing high-quality evidence to assist in prosecutions when crimes are committed, CCTV can also help in the search for vulnerable missing people.

Torbay council leader, Councillor Steve Darling, said the Torquay monitoring centre, which already connects to Paignton and Brixham, and has in excess of 300 cameras, would assist the authority in creating safer and more prosperous communities.

Of the overall cost of the project, approximately £100,000 has been invested in providing a new control centre that has radio links to police, retailers and other partners like street pastors. The running costs of the new system will be significantly lower than that of the system it replaces. Cllr Darling said: “One of the key benefits of this new digital system is that it will vastly improve imaging. “I recently met with the two inspectors responsible for neighbourhood policing in Torbay.

“They were delighted at the improved standard of picture that the new digital CCTV system has generated and felt this would have a significant impact in tackling crime on our streets in Torbay.

“In addition to the £60,000 from the PCC, Torbay Council is borrowing against the project to the sum of £350,000.

“We are able to do this as the wireless infrastructure will enable significant revenue savings, which will be offset against the capital repayment costs – so the investment for the council is cost neutral.”

Chief Superintendent Keith Perkin, Devon and Cornwall Police commander of the South Devon area, said: “I am pleased that Torbay will have great- ly improved CCTV coverage. This will support our efforts in reducing crime, keeping people safer and bringing to justice those who are intent on breaking the law.

“Too often, many escape justice because of the quality of the images captured on CCTV.

“The new technology will undoubtedly help us in our investigations, leading to more people being put before the courts.

“I am pleased to see that Torbay has been identified as the first area in Devon to be able to use the most up-to-date technology.

“Along with additional police officers and PCSOs, this will help us work with others to make Torbay safer than it already is.”

Alison said: “CCTV has proved its worth time and time again in terms of deterring crime and convicting criminals, but it can
do so much more than that. Across Devon and Cornwall we have all too many cases of high-risk missing people.

“High-quality CCTV is a vital tool in the armoury when it comes to finding these vulnerable individuals. It also helps to protect frontline police officers and compliments the roll-out of body worn video.

“Ultimately, it will make our communities safer and mean our finite resources can be tasked more effectively.”