Police Superintendent Simon Hutchison and Julia Lopez MP have jointly written to the biggest retailers in Harold Hill to ask for their backing of a crackdown on shoplifting in the area.
Government announced in the autumn a major plan to bear down on retail crime, this coincided with the launch of a Home Office pilot, ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ in Harold Hill's Farnham Road - a busy shopping area which has experienced problems with persistent crime.
Farnham Road’s 'Clear, Hold, Build' pilot site is one of six across the Met. Launched in December 2023, work is well underway and showing real progress in tackling the worst offenders. After a walkabout with independent shopkeepers and police officers in February, the Hornchurch & Upminster MP, Mrs Lopez, and Superintendent Hutchison agreed to push the five major retailers in Harold Hill town centre – Sainsburys, The Co-Op, Boots, Iceland and Superdrug – to more actively support this vital project.
Clear, Hold, Build, has seen local police officers working with local shops, MP, Council and the community to root out persistent crime, including shoplifting. This has in turn identified evidence of organised criminality. Focusing on Harold Hill's main shopping area, officers have been ‘clearing’ the streets of criminal activity via targeted operations. They will then be working with partners to ‘hold’ the area and then ‘build’ long-term community programmes to tackle the problems that are driving criminal activity.
Already the operation has delivered significant successes with one of the most prolific shoplifters receiving a custodial sentence and three drug arrests, alongside the recovery of thirty wraps of class A drugs and 150 cannabis plants. From this time last year there has been a 54% decrease in total notifiable offences in the project area, showing the real impact the operation is having.
During February's site visit, local traders and store managers revealed to Mrs Lopez and police officers their desire for major retailers in the area to support their staff and customers alike by taking measures to deter shoplifters and ensure the faster reporting of thefts to the police. Supt. Hutchison and Julia Lopez MP have now written to the retail Chief Executives to set out a range of steps they can take to prevent crime without impacting customers' experiences. The retailers have also been invited to a meeting with the MP, local officers and traders later this month.
Julia Lopez MP said:
“The decent shopkeepers and residents of Harold Hill have rightly had enough of criminals blighting the heart of the community. It is absolutely right that we all work together to push back against those who seek to take what they have done absolutely nothing to earn. Clear, Hold, Build is already delivering results, and I am glad to back the fantastic group of local traders and officers who are leading the fight. To make the biggest impact, however, we need everyone on board - and that includes the major names on the High Street. While a number of them have already made commitments nationally to the government's Retail Crime Action Plan, we now need to see them deliver on the ground - and in a way that also better protects their own staff.”
Simon Hutchison, Superintendent Neighbourhood Policing, East Area BCU – Havering Borough said:
“I am pleased with the progress that Clear, Hold, Build is making and the positive results seen so far. This is only possibly with the cooperation and support of the local community. My teams are dedicated to making the area better for the community and to be a place they want to shop. By targeting and disrupting the actions of a few prolific offenders we are seeing excellent progress and I look forward to seeing more improvements over the coming weeks.”
Simon Ford, Chair of the Harold Hill Shop Association said:
“Providing all parties involved pull together in the right direction, then Clear, Hold, Build will be a continued success, we will make sure that the commutation between parties is working, for the safety & well-being of shop staff & customers.”
