Safety and Security

“The Hull BID system is contributing to and enhancing the partnership with Citysafe and the police in lowering crime in the city.” – Tracey Harsley, Head of Hull Citysafe.

Safety and security is the top priority for businesses in the city centre – and the evidence suggests Hull BID and its partners are rising to the challenge.

Improved communication on a number of fronts is paying off by delivering a reduction in crime figures of around one third. Further reductions are expected as BID works with Humberside Police and other partners to introduce more measures to cut offending and to increase detection.

Uniformed BID support officers Mark Andrews and Raich Orr patrol all areas of the city centre and liaise daily with police and with business owners and business security personnel.

They often find themselves on the spot to help deal with criminal and anti-social behaviour, and as a result are able to provide vital evidence that will help the police detect offences.

BID also helps fund additional patrols by Police Community Support Officers, an investment which helps provide reassurance for businesses and their customers.

Behind the scenes, the Hull BID radio system introduced in 2009 - the only system endorsed by Humberside Police and City safe - has linked more than 85 businesses with the police and the City Council’s Civic 1 CCTV centre with the result that offenders can be identified and tracked as they move around the city centre, providing evidence and improving the chances of apprehension.

SelectaDNA has been introduced to help combat non-domestic burglary. The micro-dot property marking system is available to Hull BID members in all business sectors at no cost and enables them to mark their valuable property, making it easier to identify if it is recovered after a theft.

Overseeing all the initiatives is a regular security forum introduced in 2007 and chaired by Hull BID Support Officers which is going from strength to strength.

The forum brings together security experts from the three shopping centres in addition to 17 city centre stores every five weeks to meet representatives from Humberside Police, Hull City Council’s anti-social behaviour team and Hull BID.

The meetings enable members to identify prolific offenders and act to prevent problems before they occur.

“The forum is fantastic,” said Shaun Dart, security supervisor for the Prospect Centre.

“It gives me an opportunity to meet up with other security teams from around the city centre and discuss the people who are causing problems.”