Information-sharing initiative launched to tackle city centre crime

Edinburgh Reporter

13-06-2025

An information-sharing scheme between city-centre stores in Edinburgh is underway as part of ongoing work supported by Police Scotland's Retail Crime Taskforce.
As a result of funding from Essential Edinburgh, 52 stores on Princes Street, St James Quarter and the surrounding areas have been provided with radios as part of the Shopwatch initiative so that they can use to communicate with other businesses whenever a crime or suspicious activity takes place on their premises.
The City of Edinburgh Council CCTV team have also been provided with a radio and will monitor transmissions and follow individuals believed to be involved in retail crime on the city centre's CCTV network. They will then communicate information to Edinburgh officers, including those within the Taskforce, so they can more quickly respond to ongoing incidents.
Since Shopwatch began in April, eight people have been reported to the Fiscal, having been arrested following information shared between stores, the CCTV team, and Edinburgh Division officers.
Five of these individuals were charged in connection with shoplifting offences, while another was charged for an assault.
Superintendent Paul Gillespie, who leads on Acquisitive Crime for Edinburgh, said: 'When the Retail Crime Taskforce was launched earlier this year, it was made clear that all opportunities to work with retailers and key partners would be exploited to actively target those responsible for shoplifting and other retail offences.
'Shopwatch underlines our commitment to collaboration and finding new approaches that better equip businesses to prevent crime happening, while also enhancing our ability to respond when an incident does arise.
'I am grateful to Essential Edinburgh for the financial support they have provided for this scheme and have been extremely encouraged by how readily the businesses involved have embraced the concept of working together with one another, and with ourselves, and the City of Edinburgh Council, to tackle shoplifting.
'We will continue to explore all opportunities, both alongside the Retail Crime Taskforce, and through divisional business to keep addressing shoplifting and bringing those responsible to account.'
Grant Stewart, who is Senior Operations Manager for Essential Edinburgh, added: 'We have had a real focus on tackling shoplifting through our successful Check Out system which also sees information sharing about known retail crime in real time.
'This latest scheme adds on to that protection for our members in tackling criminal activity. We are delighted to be partnering our colleagues in Police Scotland and Apex radios on this, and look forward to continuing to build on that, working together.'
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