14 March 2017: Crime prevention advice was given to 42 town centre businesses during Luton BID’s recent Safer Neighbourhood Days on 6th and 7th March.
Luton BID teamed up with Bedfordshire Police as part of the initiative which focused on improving security so that visitors and workers can enjoy a safe, attractive and appealing town centre experience.
Ambassadors were joined by two Bedfordshire Police Officers as they visited town centre shops and businesses to promote safety and security, discuss business crime intelligence sharing, demonstrate the digital radio scheme and offer crime prevention advice.
McDonalds, Cash 4 Gold, Maxim Jewellers, Cash Converters, Café Inn were among the High Street and smaller independent shops visited during the two days.
Manager, Mamoun Ahbare from Mango Dry Cleaners said: “We were grateful to have been visited by the BID and police officers as part of the Safer Neighbourhood Days. We were given more information about signing up to the digital radio scheme and also talked about ways to report any issues such as anti-social behaviour. We are willing to support any initiative to help improve safety and security in the town centre. It is initiatives like this that help make the town a better place.”
Gavin O’Brien, Chair of the Luton Business Improvement District (BID) and co-director of town centre based business Clearhead, explained: “We are committed to working with BID businesses and other organisations such as Bedfordshire Police on our collective goal to make Luton town centre safer and more attractive and appealing. We had many encouraging comments from shop and business owners about how the BID’s Safer Neighbourhood Days gave them chance to learn about various security initiatives and raise issues directly with a police officer. The two days were all about making it easier for businesses to access crime prevention advice and flag up concerns. From the positive feedback, we feel we achieved that.”