A safe and secure Blackburn town centre is an essential requirement for businesses.
The BID works closely with Blackburn Businesses Against Crime group, Lancashire Police and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s Community Safety team to promote a joined up approach to dealing with anti-social behaviour, shoplifting and environmental crime.
Police Community Support Officers
The BID has supported the recruitment and deployment of two new Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) to operate within a team of 8 police officers and PCSOs covering the BID area.
The new PCSOs provide an enhanced presence on the Blackburn College campus and Townsmoor retail complex, as part of dedicated PCSO coverage and visible presence across the whole town centre. In recent years significant investment in the College has led to increasing student numbers. The PCSO has provided a regular high visible presence in and around the College campus building, developing a network of contacts and an understanding of the needs and requirements of the College community. In the Townsmoor area the focus is on increasing visibility and thus reducing the opportunities for crimes to occur.
Blackburn Business Against Crime (BBAC)
The BID supports the Blackburn Business Against Crime Initiative, which encourages partnership working to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in the town centre. The BID promotes the benefits of the service to traders, encouraging the take up of the radio system, electronic alerts, crime forums and training. The partnership with BBAC encourages traders to report any security issues . We have supported the successes of BBAC with a regular supply of good news stories relating to improvements and achievements to the media via the BID website, media staff and social media.
CCTV
The BID has worked closely with the operators of the town centre’s largest CCTV systems – Blackburn with Darwen Council, Capita, The Mall and Blackburn College, with the aim of enhancing coverage in the town centre and maximising partnership working. The BID has funded additional CCTV cameras to address crime ‘hotspots’ and gaps in the existing town centre coverage.
Future Plans
The BID plans to deliver and maintain the following activity to create a safer, more secure town centre:
• Provide additional security throughout the year at BID events.
• Continued partnership with BBAC.
• The BID has recruited an ambassador as a point of contact for levy payers. The role includes levy payer support, providing a welcome to visitors and reporting any issues back to the BID team.
