The Fed meets with Kent police and crime commissioner

The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) has met with Kent police and crime commissioner (PCC) Matthew Scott to discuss the work that Kent Police is undertaking to tackle the ongoing challenge of rogue trade, particularly the illicit black market in tobacco which continues to cause concern for retailers and law enforcement alike, and ongoing theft and harassment of Kent shopkeepers.

Representing the Fed were its national vice president Hemanshu Patel, who owns Saltwood General Store in Hythe in the county, and the Fed’s political engagement coordinator Douglas Oliver.

Mr Patel spoke about a Kent Police operation back in February which led to the seizure of 100kg of illegal tobacco products in Hythe. While this was welcome, he said that more needed to be done to ensure that rogue operators were closed down permanently. Mr Scott acknowledged that the local police knew that illicit tobacco remained a challenging topic but were keen to work more closely with retailers, members of the public and local authority trading standards teams to tackle this.  He added that Kent Police had a particularly close relationship with the national charity Crime Stoppers. He urged retailers to engage with them.

The Fed team congratulated Mr Scott on the recent news that three persistent shoplifters had recently been the subject of police action, including an offender in the Gillingham and Rochester area who was subject to a custodial sentence after breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order. However, the Fed representatives stressed the ongoing perception of high crime levels and their sense of vulnerability to crime.

Mr Scott spoke of his team’s work on the Retail Crime Board and encouraged Fed members in Kent to participate. He also spoke about the use of new technologies, such as Disc, through Business Crime Reduction Partnerships in certain parts of the county, but also said he hoped there could be wider application of reporting tools like it.

After the meeting, which took place on Tuesday, March 24, Mr Scott said: “It was a very useful discussion. We encourage retailers impacted by retail crime to always report using 999 or 101, and also to use Crimestoppers to report suspicions of illicit tobacco anonymously on 0800 555 111 or the www.crimestoppers-uk.org website. I look forward to meeting with Hemanshu and Kent Fed members again in the future.”

Mr Patel said: “As a Kent retailer and Fed member, I felt this was a very positive meeting and I would like to thank Matthew and his team for their time. The Fed looks forward to participating in the Retail Crime Boards in the future and I look forward to speaking with him and his team later in the year in person.”