Business Crime - Are You Reporting It?
Businesses
up and down the country are suffering from
crime, particularly theft and vandalism, yet only a small number of incidents
are reported; with small businesses
believing that the police aren’t interested.
The Federation of Small
Businesses (FSB), in partnership with the
Coalition Against Crime, today launches a
major new national campaign to increase
reporting of crime against businesses.
Businesses are being encouraged
to keep a record of every crime they are a
victim of, no matter how small, and to
report it to the police.
The Every Crime Every
Time Campaign aims to highlight the extent
of crime against small businesses and the
fact that it is grossly under-reported.
Despite the fact that a fifth of all crime
in the UK is committed against business,
only one in eight incidents is reported,
often because small business owners feel
that crime committed against them is low
down on the list of police priorities.
David Croucher-Jones, FSB Home Affairs
Chairman, said: “It is mystifying
that such a large proportion of crime in
this country can go almost unnoticed.
“The Every Crime Every Time Campaign is an
effort to make the voices of small business
owners heard about the crime they are
victims of and to get police forces and the
Government to listen.
“Crime against business is often thought to
be victimless. It’s not. The victims are the
communities that small businesses sustain
and small business owners themselves are
facing a climate of constant intimidation
and violence”
Anne Tate, Chief Executive of the Coalition
Against Crime, said: “Crime impacts
upon a business in a number of ways,
including the inability to meet customer
deadlines, damaging profitability, wasting
management time and affecting staff morale,
to name but a few.
“We are looking for more information about
the scale, nature and impact of crime upon
businesses, so we can formulate a response
to it. Small businesses can help by taking
part in this campaign, which will run for
one year.
“By reporting every incident of crime,
anti-social behaviour or verbal and physical
abuse against staff, small business owners
can help us to put more pressure on police
forces to take crime against business
seriously.”
Find out more on legal issues in our
Business Law section.
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