A woman has been arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Ripley after local retailers used the Shop Watch radio system to contact police.
Boots the Chemist, on High Street, used the system to report that cosmetics and perfumes had been stolen at around 3pm on Monday, February 4.
Police attended and details of the incident were passed on to all other retailers in the scheme. Details of a similar incident on Wednesday, February 6, at Superdrug, on Oxford Street, were passed on through the airwaves to officers and local shops.
On Monday, February 18, reports came through the radios that a suspicious woman had been seen in the town. PC Dan Quick of the Ripley Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team attended the area and found the woman, who was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting.
Shop Watch in Ripley was set up by police and the Amber Valley Community Safety Partnership to help target and prevent retail related crime and officers from the Ripley Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team monitor the Shop Watch radio system. S
ergeant Dave Harrison, of the Amber Valley Community Safety Partnership, said:
“The radio link allows businesses to quickly pass on the details of any incidents or suspicious activity to police and other shops.
“These incidents demonstrate the value of Shop Watch, which put other retailers on their guard and alerted police to a potential offender.”
The 44-year-old woman, from Mansfield, was later charged with shoplifting and is due to appear before magistrates in Chesterfield on Monday, March 11.
For more information about Shop Watch in the Amber Valley contact Sgt. Dave Harrison of the Amber Valley Community Safety Partnership on 01773 841652 or email communitysafety@ambervalley.gov.uk.
