UK supermarket chain Morrisons has partnered with the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to introduce crime prevention terminals in stores.
The advanced touchscreen devices in Morrisons stores in the county of Bedfordshire provide a novel method for shoppers to report crimes and digital access to non-emergency police services while enhancing the PCC’s commitments to community-based policing.
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Users can provide intelligence, access victim care support and submit feedback to the force.
The terminals, featuring information on local events and services, will also provide a safe space for people facing difficulties seeking support online.
The screens were first installed in libraries, at the University of Bedfordshire and at Cranfield University. Four are already in place.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) project manager Phil Eaton said: “We’ve seen a positive uptake of the terminals at the universities and have since installed one at Caddington Community Centre, following feedback from residents wanting other ways to access policing services.
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By GlobalData“Usage here has been high with most users visiting the Chrysalis Centre, a programme that helps to reform perpetrators of domestic abuse.”
The “report a crime” feature is the most utilised aspect of the terminals.
The OPCC is planning to install three further terminals across larger Morrisons stores in Bedfordshire.
Morrisons corporate protection manager Carl Probert said: “This is a collaborative approach whereby Morrisons is assisting Bedfordshire police to help report and reduce crime in the local community. We are fully supportive of the scheme and pleased to hear of its initial success.”
Furthermore, the OPCC is developing a mobile application version of the terminal, which will be available for download from the OPCC website.
The move from PPC comes after the British Retail Consortium latest crime survey, released in February 2024, revealed that violence and abuse against retail workers in the UK soared 50% to 1,300 per day in 2022/23, up from around 870 per day the previous year.
