New approach to data sharing will help to tackle retail crime

The National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) have been working on a landmark data sharing process to enable police to share information on retail crime activity, trends and offenders with key crime prevention partners and retailers.

The new national data sharing process was developed with the support of the Data Protection Team at the National Police Chiefs Council and forms part of the Tackling Retail Crime Together strategy launched by the Policing Minister in July.

The new approach considers all the safeguards needed to be compliant with the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR in a format that provides a clear audit trail of what has been shared, and why.     

Patrick Holdaway, who led the piece of work for the NBCC Said: “Data sharing between the police, partners and retailers is a critical tool in crime prevention but it has historically relied on the need for data sharing agreements, which can take time to put in place. We have worked with data sharing experts to develop a range of forms so data can be shared with retailers, private security companies BIDs and BCRPs where there is a policing purpose for doing so.

“By sharing information about known offenders it will help police and retailers intervene earlier, preventing crimes like shop theft, organised retail crime and violence against shop workers before they escalate.

The NBCC have put together a detailed guide for policing and partners about what data can be shared, what shouldn’t be shared, what constitutes a policing purpose, other considerations and what forms need to be completed to ensure the sharing of any data is legally compliant. 

To download the guidance and forms visit the NBCC website: Data Sharing