We Don’t Buy Crime is West Mercia Police’s response to acquisitive crime – crimes such as burglary and theft – and associated harm.
Burglary, and indeed theft, can have a long lasting impact on victims, it can often leave someone feeling unsafe in their own home, and where possessions that have emotional attachment are stolen it can be heart-breaking.
In 2015, We Don’t Buy Crime was launched in Cleobury Mortimer to combat a rise in the number of burglaries in the small town. The initiative saw us work with our Police and Crime Commissioner and the local parish council to provide each resident with a SmartWater Forensic Property Marking kit.
Signs were put in place in key locations warning criminals the town had taken crime prevention measures. The initiative was so successful it was implemented in other towns and villages across the counties covered by West Mercia Police and we now have hundreds of towns and villages in Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Worcestershire signed up to the initiative.
Today, We Don’t Buy Crime has five key strands along with our towns and villages, we work with second hand stores and fuel stations, deploy covert tactics, and more recently look at ways our local communities can help tackle associated harm including criminal exploitation and vulnerability.
A dedicated team works tirelessly to essentially put criminals out of business across the counties covered by West Mercia Police.