A week of joint activity led by Dartford Borough Council and Kent Police is taking place around Dartford Town Centre to support businesses and shop workers.
Safer Business Action week takes place from October 16 to October 22, and will involve engaging with local businesses, retailers and the community to raise awareness of business crime in the area. This will assist agencies with identification of repeat offenders and their prosecution. There will also be a focus from the Council’s Community Safety Unit around identifying and preventing anti-social behaviour. We’ll be sharing how to report incidents and explain what actions can be taken.
Throughout the week community safety partners, including Dartford Borough Council, Dartford Town Against Crime (DTAC) and Kent Police, along with a number of other agencies will be working together on community engagement, enforcement and education.
This will include two engagement days during the week. The first will be in Central Park on Tuesday, October 17, where we’ll be speaking to park visitors. Then, on Thursday, October 19, there will be an engagement day in Dartford High Street to discuss crime and anti-social behaviour around the town centre.
Officers from our Dartford Town Against Crime (DTAC) partnership will be on hand in the Meeting Place, Orchard Shopping Centre on Wednesday 18 and Friday 20 to offer guidance to businesses about the benefits of becoming a member of the DTAC Business Crime Reduction Partnership.
Leader of the Council Jeremy Kite said: “This is a great opportunity to remind people that Dartford Borough Council takes a zero-tolerance stance against people who choose to make life difficult for visitors and businesses in our town. We’re proud to be working together with so many different agencies to deliver this important week of action.”
Supt Patrick Holdaway of the National Business Crime Centre said: “The week of action is an opportunity to bring police and partners together to tackle the key issues of business crime in their communities. Each police force taking part will be holding various crime prevention activities and initiatives to increase engagement with local businesses and retail outlets and tackle some of the most prolific offenders.”