Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews has met the officers involved in rolling out an innovative app in the fight against retail crime and anti-social behaviour in Hinckley.
During a ‘Community Day' in the town, the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PCC dropped into Hinckley Police Station where he was shown the DISC information system by PCSO Phil Wayne.
DISC is an information sharing app which empowers business owners to share information about incidents and offenders between themselves so they can better protect themselves against crime and keep their property, employees and customers safe.
The app enables subscribers to report incidents to the police quickly and send and receive instant messages and email alerts to one another to warn of live incidents.
The DISC system, which has been designed to comply with all data protection and GDPR legislation, is currently being made available to shops that are part of the Hinckley Business Improvement District (BID) but could be rolled out more widely in future.
Mr Matthews said: "I was excited to see this system in action in Hinckley and find out more about the way it connects businesses to each other to reduce their risk of retail crime.
"DISC is already being used effectively in other towns and cities across the UK, enabling police to track the activities of prolific offenders and build up an intelligence picture while also arming businesses with the information they need to reduce their risk of crime. Although it's early days, there's strong support for the project and businesses have really welcomed the partnership approach.
"As PCSO Wayne explained, this scheme has made the world of difference elsewhere. Hinckley is already a safe place to live, work and visit but DISC will help make it even safer. I look forward to returning in September to find out more about its impact."
Earlier during the patch walk, the PCC met Ruth Wright at the Pathways Centre, which is part of the Baptist Church on Baptist Walk.
The centre offers many vital community services from the Crisis Café, which provides support to people struggling with mental health, through to HUGS which helps residents who have recently moved to the area from the Ukraine. It is eager for more people to volunteer to support the valuable work it provides residents across the area.
The PCC also met Daniel Hope who is organising a packed programme of entertainment for this year's Hinckley Pride under the theme ‘Together Always, United in Diversity', and chatted to shoppers and residents in the Town Centre about their concerns in relation to crime and policing.
