Safer Business Award
Welwyn Garden City Watch (WGCW) has been presented with a Safer Business Award from Action Against Business Crime (AABC).
The national Safer Business Award is supported by the Home Office and managed by AABC. The award recognises towns, cities and shopping centres that demonstrate a strong practical commitment to reducing retail and business crime such as shop theft and anti social behaviour.
Partnerships have to demonstrate a commitment to creating and maintaining a safe and secure environment for all who use the town and its facilities.
The award ensures that there is a nationally recognised standard, demonstrating that partnerships operate legally to the highest standards. It also encourages closer working relationships with other agencies through national and regional data sharing. The WGCW will now be able to share data with the surrounding towns in possession of the award, which will help to identify travelling criminals.
The WGCW is enabling the business community to join forces to manage crime and anti social behaviour effectively through the sharing of information using radios, information technology and a soon-to-be-launched exclusion notice scheme, specifically targeting the most prolific and persistent offenders.
Cllr Mandy Perkins, Executive Member for Planning and Environmental Health, said: “I am really pleased that Welwyn Garden City Watch has received this Safer Business Award. I hope that this award will help to reduce the fear of crime and create and promote a safer, more secure environment for staff working in and visitors to the town centre, and eventually to the secondary shopping and business areas of Welwyn Garden City. This award should be a major step in enhancing the economic vitality of the whole town.”