Prolific thieves targeted in county-wide campaign

Prolific thieves are to be targeted as part of a county-wide campaign, known as #WeDontBuyCrime

Staffordshire Police is working to reduce and disrupt the market for stolen goods and help people to protect their homes, businesses and possessions by making them less attractive to would-be criminals.

Acquisitive crime, including burglary, robbery and theft harms our communities and can have a long-lasting impact on its victims.

Throughout the campaign offenders will be targeted by intelligence-led operational activity concentrated on searching for stolen goods and people who are named as suspects.

Officers will also be supporting students, homeowners and businesses with a variety of crime prevention advice. They’ll be working with shops and second-hand goods retailers to help them adopt best-practice to deter criminal activity and avoid handling stolen goods in the future.

Detective Superintendent Colin Mattinson, head of force intelligence, said: “How we tackle theft and offenders handling stolen goods is business as usual for our neighbourhood teams. However, through this co-ordinated awareness campaign we aim to send out a clear message to would-be offenders that there are serious consequences to their actions.

“We are asking the public to refuse to buy and to report the sale of potentially stolen goods so that we can effectively disrupt the traditional and on-line market places.

“Theft of belongings, whether personal or business-related, can have a profound effect on victims and I am confident this campaign will further support the work already evident across the county and will deter criminals from committing these crimes in Staffordshire.”

“By working with partners we are looking to property mark as many households as possible to create ‘We Don’t Buy Crime’ towns and villages which has been seen to significantly reduce the risk of burglaries.”

Follow the campaign by searching #WeDontBuyCrime on social media, and to help protect yourself from being a victim of crime, please read our crime prevention advice online at: https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/

Register your belongings on immobilise national property register. It’s free and takes just a few minutes and if your valuables are stolen it will allow you to tell the police, your insurer and second-hand traders to assist in recovering your property and catch the thief.

You can also be kept up-to-date by joining Staffordshire Police’s community messaging service, Smart Alert which will keep you informed of crimes in your area. www.staffordshiresmartalert.uk