Crawley and Gatwick Business Watch receives national accreditation
Designed to make city centres safer for businesses and employees, there are over 250 Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRP) in the UK. Crawley and Gatwick Business Watch (CGBW) has 160 members and operates alongside three key organisations – Shop Watch, Pub Watch and Business Watch. These businesses include shops, pubs and clubs as well as other businesses in the town centre and industrial sites within its boundaries.
CGBW, which is based in the centre of Crawley, seeks to reduce and prevent criminality and anti-social behaviour by reducing the opportunity to commit crime. The scheme’s radio system can be accessed by participating member businesses and the CCTV control room in the area’s main shopping centre – County Mall. The County Mall control room can view all the Mall’s entry and exit points, including an adjoining park. Local Sussex PCSOs assigned to Crawley Town Centre carry the partnership radio whilst on duty and voice traffic is monitored in the Neighbourhood Policing Teams’ Office at other times.
CGBW works closely with other Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs) in Sussex, such as Brighton and Eastbourne, and with Sussex Police and Crawley Borough Council licensing teams to manage the night-time economy.
Sussex PCC, Katy Bourne, and Chief Inspector Steve Turner, Sussex Police, presenting the BCRP accreditation to Paul Dowling
The national standards accreditation provides a benchmark of achievement and success, helping to give reassurance to businesses, police and other stakeholders that the partnership is working and provides good value for money.
The mastermind behind the success of the Business Crime Reduction Partnership is its manager, Paul Dowling, who took up his post in January 2021 after serving in a management role with the Boeing Corporation, where his responsibilities included looking after international trip planning and vendor relations. Paul knows the Crawley and Gatwick area well, serving as a Special Sergeant with Sussex Police for more than 16 years.
Paul said: “The Crawley and Gatwick Business Watch remains firmly committed to its core objectives of crime prevention and collaborative partnership working with local agencies, charities, Crawley and West Sussex Council and Sussex Police, with a continued focus on fostering safer communities across the entire borough of Crawley. Attaining national accreditation reaffirms that the Crawley and Gatwick Business Watch operates in full compliance with recognised standards and provides assurance to both local and national businesses that the scheme is managed to a consistently high professional standard acknowledged by external agencies”.
Sophie Jordan, National Association of Business Crime Partnerships, said: “Crawley and Gatwick BCRP is a large and proactive scheme, making a real impact in tackling business crime. The Crime Manager demonstrates strong partnership working, collaborating closely with member businesses and engaging effectively with external agencies to support offender interventions and prevent reoffending. Notably, the BCRP works with a local homeless charity and Safer Crawley, a council-led initiative, to address the root causes of crime and support vulnerable individuals.
“The BCRP has an excellent working relationship with the police, and provides high-quality intelligence that has directly supported arrests and enforcement activity. Crawley and Gatwick BCRP presented a strong and thoughtful assessment, clearly demonstrating the breadth of work being delivered and the value offered to members. Very well done C&G BCRP, the development and growth of your BCRP is clearly evident - keep doing what you’re doing!”
Amanda Mulholland from Police CPI said: “Congratulations to Crawley and Gatwick Business Watch on their accreditation. Achieving this is a significant challenge for any crime reduction partnership, and their success shows a strong commitment to creating safer environments for customers and staff. Their work not only improves safety but also boosts the commercial prospects for local businesses”.
Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) accreditation
The accreditation process is based on a set of standards owned by the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC).
The standards include good management practices and procedures such as membership agreements, data security and compliance with current legislation. It includes having robust information for members and partner organisations that is up to date as well as making it easily accessible 24/7. For some BCRPs, the standards will include the use of CCTV and radio links with members.
The aim is to recognise good practice and professionalism to ensure BCRPs are functioning in an ethical manner and within the law, specifically checks to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation.
It is expected that accreditation will enhance the level of partnership working nationally and encourage continued, significant, national business investment in BCRPs. In addition, the intention is that it will provide reassurance to Police Forces that data shared with BCRP partner organisations will be utilised in a responsible manner to reduce criminal activity.
Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (Police CPI), who run the Secured by Design initiative, is the accreditation body for BCRPs. The accreditation process is based on a set of standards owned by the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC).
Find out more about the BCRP National Standards here
