Project Pegasus to improve information sharing between police and retailers

In October 2023, the NBCC joined retailers, the Policing Minister at the time Rt Hon Chris Philp, and Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne to launch Project Pegasus, a partnership between retailers and policing to tackle retail crime.

The initiative, convened by Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne, is a business and policing partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with policing, to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders. This will include development of a new information sharing platform and training for retailers.

So far, 13 of the country’s top retailers have pledged to fund a new police team of specialist officers & analysts to work within policing in a structure called OPAL - a national team that oversees serious organised acquisitive crime, run by North Wales Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman.

NBCC lead, Supt Patrick Holdaway said: "The NBCC is looking forward to supporting the development and implementation of Pegasus and will be using our established network of contacts within policing, business and private industry to feed into the OPAL team. Establishing a clear picture of the role organised crime plays in retail crime will undoubtedly help police better target those responsible and understand the level of influence and impact it has on the local community,”

The team will build a comprehensive intelligence picture of the organised crime gangs that fuel many shoplifting incidents across the country, to help target and dismantle them.

Sussex PCC and APCC National Lead for Business and Retail Crime, Katy Bourne said: “Pegasus will be a game changer in the fight against retail crime providing for the first time, an accurate national picture of the organised groups from local families to cross border criminals driving organised shop theft.

“Retailers will agree ways to capture information that can be shared and analysed to create intelligence packages for police forces to target and track perpetrators. I am very grateful to all the contributors to Pegasus and to Mitie in particular for helping to get Pegasus airborne.”

The retailers currently involved in Pegasus are: Aldi, B&Q, Boots, Coop, John Lewis Partnership, Lidl, M&S, Mitie Security (providing secretariat for Pegasus), Morrisons, NBCS (National Business Crime Solution), Next, Primark, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, TJX.

For more information visit the Sussex PCC website.