POLICE are cracking down on opportunistic thefts from retail businesses in the Horsham CBD.
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Horsham Police Acting Inspector Dave Ellis said there had been a “slight increase” of small item theft during the last year.
“We’ve seen a slight increase in instances of theft occurring in the CBD. Small items including alcohol and cosmetics especially. It’s one of the things that we’re trying to get on top of,” he said.
“We’ve just been noticing that over the last 12 months there has been a slight increase in reports of theft, so it’s something we want to get under control.”
Acting Inspector Ellis said Horsham Police could assist business owners to find ways to combat theft.
“We have staff who can help businesses with crime prevention initiatives and help business owners undertake some sort of assessment to assess their risk of shop stealing,” he said.
He said the Horsham Eyewatch Facebook page was a great tool to have. The page allows police officers to post photos and information about unsolved crimes in the region, and call on the community to assist with their inquires.
“We like to use Eyewatch frequently and have seen a lot of results from that to identify people who may be able to assist us with our inquires. There have been many occasions where we have been able to identify people who can assist us, not necessarily offenders themselves,” he said.
“We’ve used Eyewatch to identify people wanted on warrants, and also people through CCTV footage. It also keeps the community up-to-date with what’s happening in the area as well.”
Terry White Chemmart Horsham co-owner Stuart Hall said opportunistic theft was always something the business was wary of.
“We’ve always got to be on the look out. Even though most shops have security cameras, including our own, it still doesn’t deter everyone,” he said.
“We’re a bit vulnerable with the smaller items we sell, but we do look at footage and keep a very close eye on it – it’s not that hard to backtrack and get a photo of a person. People are taking a big risk if they take something because the technology is getting better.”
He said Horsham Police were always helpful.
“The police have always been very supportive; they always take our calls seriously and help us follow it up to deter those people,” he said.
