Researching business crime makes a difference

  24th February 2021

Over a five-year period, researchers from the University of Gloucestershire worked with local and national crime reduction agencies to examine crime against high street businesses and approaches to its reduction, in a study entitled ‘Business crime reduction: Transforming policy, practice and training’.

Prior to the University’s work, there had been a lack of academic study concerning the occurrence and impact of crime and associated disorder affecting businesses in retail and entertainment districts; the offending behaviour of those who commit these offences; and the approaches being employed by business crime reduction schemes to tackle such issues. Consequently, UK national guidance on best practice for business crime reduction was not underpinned by rigorous academic evidence and was lacking in a number of areas.

The study included examining business crime reduction partnership (BCRP) activity, and working alongside national organisations, police forces, crime prevention practitioners and businesses, to identify principles of effective crime reduction partnership design and to increase communication, community cohesion, feelings of safety, and information sharing practices within partnerships. These principles now underpin the National Business Crime Centre’s national standards for BCRPs, which are used as an accreditation benchmark for BCRPs across the country. You can read more about this story here.