What is a BCRP?
What is a BCRP?
A Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) is a partnership-based approach to preventing crime and disorder. It is a subscription based, business-led, action group working with police and the local authority to tackle and reduce crime and disorder affecting businesses and the wider community.
In 2018 the National Business Crime Centre introduced a set of Business Crime Reduction Partnership standards; these were updated in October 2019. These standards provide a single reference for “what good partnership working looks like” in order to give reassurance to business members, police and other stakeholders on how to operate a BCRP.
What does a BCRP do?
Through BCRPs, businesses can work more effectively with police, the local authority and other businesses to create a safe and stable business environment. This includes working together to prevent repeat offenders from targeting businesses. For example, many BCRPs run an exclusion scheme based on the law of trespass, collectively excluding individuals from member premises.
BCRPs operate to make towns, cities and communities safer by:
- Collating intelligence on known troublemakers.
- Excluding from private premises on a ‘banned from one banned from all’ basis.
- Working with local police to enforce those exclusions and prevent further offences.
- Assist with the rehabilitation of offenders.
- Deliver local crime reduction initiatives
Most BCRPs offer a communications network via local radio schemes and additionally offer local data sharing services via online software enabling intelligence to be shared locally between businesses and police, supporting the immediate detection and prevention of crime. BCRPs tend to be managed by a dedicated business crime reduction partnership manager who is available for members to contact for guidance and support. The BCRP manager will have good local links with police and local authority.
How can I join a BCRP?
If you would like to join a BCRP, it is important that you check the BCRP is accredited against the national standards to ensure their work is compliant with legislation and they work to appropriate policies and processes. You can check whether a BCRP is set up in your area by contacting the National Association of Business Crime Partnerships (NABCP) or Gov.uk
BCRP Case Study
To find out more about how a BCRP operates and the difference they can make, the NABCP has produced a report looking at the work of the Brighton BCRP with local retailers and partners to tackle local crime issues. Click on the document below:
