Enniskillen Business Watch is celebrating one of its successes, staff training and, recently in the Townhall where the training sessions are held, staff and managers of local businesses attended an awards ceremony that recognised those who had successfully attended the crime prevention awareness training programme.
Among the training modules delivered were - shoplifting (Observation Skills), Shoplifting (Detection and Apprehension Skills), Personal Safety Awareness, Customer Access Control Awareness, Counterfeit Currency Awareness, and Incendiary Devices/Fire Safety Awareness.
A spokesman said the local business community was an important part of any neighbourhood, and it had an important role to play as a key partner for reducing local crime.
"Since the launch of the Enniskillen Business Watch pilot (26 February 2008), the three crime reduction partners (District Policing Partnership, Community Safety Partnership and PSNI) have been working with the business community to develop programmes to meet the needs of the local business community and help them recognise the potential they have as a businesses to help themselves and their community", he explained.
One of the elements of the Business Watch Scheme has been a crime prevention training programme developed to meet the specific needs of Enniskillen town traders.
The spokesman said the programme had proved a major success in raising awareness of crime issues and what local business can do to reduce crime.
"Obviously the number of crimes prevented cannot be determined, but local businesses have confirmed that staff are more alert and aware of what to look out for and there have been some real successes.
Speaking on the success of the ongoing pilot, the Chairman of Fermanagh Community Safety Partnership and Fermanagh District Policing Partnership, Councillor Domhnall O'Cobhthaigh said Business Watch was impacting on crime in Enniskillen town.
"It has also been very successful in terms of raising awareness of crime, and how it can be addressed. By creating a greater awareness of crime and a strong commitment to mutual support, the business community are taking positive action in the fight against business crime. This is a programme I would like to see rolled out across all of Fermanagh on conclusion of the scheme's trial period."
Membership of the Business Watch scheme is free of charge, and specialist crime prevention training is made available to members. The Enniskillen pilot currently has almost 200 businesses in the scheme and as Ringmaster clients. The flexibility of the Ringmaster system enables recipients to be contacted by telephone, fax, email or SMS.
The aim of Business Watch is to help businesses protect themselves and their property, and to reduce the occurrence of business crime by:
SUCCESSES
There have been a couple of notable success stories to date.
A local business raised concern in relation to particular charity boxes, which had been placed in local shops. A Ringmaster message was circulated and the police seized four boxes as a result of the message. It subsequently transpired that the charity boxes were part of an Ireland-wide scam. A man was subsequently arrested in Armagh and the seized boxes forwarded to Armagh police. They will form part of the PSNI investigation.
On 28 August a Ringmaster message was circulated to all premises in the Enniskillen Businesses Watch Scheme regarding suspicious activity, i.e. shop lifting.
As a result of this message. shop keepers' vigilance was increased and a shoplifting gang from Belfast were observed in operation.
Police were contacted and after a speedy response, arrests were made and items recovered. A file is currently being prepared for the Public Prosecution Service.
