The Metropolitan Police has teamed up with forecourt security and crime reduction campaigner the British Oil Security Syndicate to roll out its successful forecourt Watch Scheme across eight London boroughs.

Following the success of a scheme in Tower Hamlets which was established two years ago and which has recorded a 50 per cent reduction in crime, Forecourt Watch has been established in Brent, Ealing, Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Bromley and most recently Greenwich and Croydon. Hillingdon and Lambeth are expected to become members later this year.

Pan-London Forecourt Crime reduction Adviser for the Metropolitan Police, PC Ruari Robertson, said: "In 2003, over 32,000 people drove away from the capital's 700 forecourts, having committed various criminal offences and costing the industry millions of pounds.

"We now have 145 forecourts signed up to Forecourt Watch across eight boroughs and this sends a very clear message to would-be criminals – London is not the place to commit forecourt crime.”

Sophisticated systems are in place to allow forecourts to communicate with each other concerning incidents or suspicious incidences, and each borough has a dedicated police officer to coordinate investigations.

The Forecourt watch systems can include ANPR linked to a centralised computer system, self-reporting packs, which are submitted to police with copies of CCTV footage containing evidence and an effective protocol for dealing with incidents where a customer claims to have 'no means of payment'.

Source

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