Newham Police advise local businesses to take steps to stay safe after the borough was targeted for “copycat criminal activity” which has resulted in over 100 arrests.
The Operation Withern team is continuing their investigation to identify those people responsible for the violence, disorder and crime to ensure that they are brought to justice and an incident room was set up by the Metropolitan Police on Monday.
The police are telling people not to be alarmed by the increased police presence in their areas.
They also recommended that businesses take the following precautionary measures:
1. Where possible retail premises should be suitably staffed with security guards
2. Ensure staff report any suspicious activity to security and/or police
3. Consider regular checks of the building and surrounding area
4. Identify areas that are vulnerable to forced entry
5. Make sure all service doors are kept locked and secure when not in use
6. Ensure your CCTV system fully operational
7. In case of an emergency is there a record of the names of keyholders who can be contacted
8. Consider removing high value goods from display windows overnight
9. Consider keeping as little cash as possible on the premises
10. Ensure that your premises are secure and if fitted your alarm systems are fully operational
11. In the event of a non emergency, call the police on non emergency number 101
10. In the event of an emergency, call the emergency number 999
11. If you have any information you wish to provide to police anonymously you can contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.
Anyone with information should call the major investigation team on 020 8345 4142.
Newham Police said: “The MPS has extra resources on duty across the capital. We are carefully monitoring any intelligence and ensuring we have our resources in the right places to support the ongoing policing plan. We will continue to respond to the needs of London’s communities and deal with any incidents of criminality.”
Police ask businesses to consider subscribing to the official police messaging system “Neighbourhood Link” at www.neighbourhoodlink.met.police.uk.
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