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Safer

We are unique. We are THE ONLY BID in the country with a police team dedicated to the needs of businesses, paid for by businesses who set their priorities. And it’s no coincidence that the Angel is a much safer, more secure place for everyone to work and visit. Your staff and customers all feel safer here, whether they’re shopping, using your business services, dining or enjoying a night out.

OUR CRIME FIGHTING INITIATIVES

1

ANGEL CRIMFIGHTERS

Our online crime fighting website

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1 ANGEL CRIMEFIGHTERS

Join our crime fighting website as the simplest and easiest way to drive criminals and crime away from the Angel. We have almost 300 businesses signed up, posting photos of suspected criminals, sharing information about incidents on their premises and warning everyone about problems. Angel Police Team are catching and charging multiple shoplifters and phone and wallet thieves daily using pictures and CCTV posted by Angel Crimefighters’ shops, pubs and bars.

2

ANGEL PUBWATCH

Awarded Purple Flag for the third year running

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2 ANGEL PUBWATCH

We hear the Met Police think our PubWatch group is the best in the capital. Islington Licensing Team says it's the model PubWatch Group for London.

Representing the 38 licensed premises in the BID, our PubWatch was formed three years ago out of licensees' determination to work together so the Angel stays a safe and enjoyable night out. Our monthly meetings have attracted pubs and bars from outside the area too, voluntarily joining the BID to be part of it.

And again we've been awarded the prestigious Purple Flag - supported by the Home Office -which means we're an enjoyable AND a safe night out.

PubWatch works closely with the council’s Licensing Team, the Met, Islington's CCTV control room and our Angel Police Team who are embedded in the community and know local licensees and security staff well. We meet regularly with local residents and tenants' groups before any noise or other problems become issues.

We've gained Purple Flag for the last three years (like the Blue Flag good beach award and Green Flag for parks) signifying a well-managed and safe night time economy. That's all credit to our very focused group of licensees and their close working with the Angel Police Team.

The annual Purple Flag assessment scrutinises all aspects of the evening economy - the level of policing and cleansing, the mix of night time activities, transport, public lighting, facilities and even the level of partnership working between the statutory authorities responsible for the area.

3

ANGEL SHOPWATCH

Who’s watching your shop?

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3 ANGEL SHOPWATCH

Shopwatch is our radio network linking shops together, allowing them to quickly spread warnings to each other about known shoplifters heading their way or incidents in their area.

Shopwatch has led to arrests and prosecutions for retail crime, the return of stock, and shop staff feel safer knowing there’s a community of at least 60 retailers watching out and listening in to what’s going on in our busy shopping streets.
The two-way network is monitored by our Angel Police Team, who will respond immediately to any incidents, plus the Angel Central security team who listen in 24/7.

Shopwatch is open to retailers in the Angel AIM area and surrounding streets. It costs £250 a year (plus VAT) to hire the radio for angel.london members, and an extra £100 one-off registration fee for businesses OUTSIDE our area. This includes maintaining the radios and replacing batteries.

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COMMUNITY SECURITY ZONE

Business working together

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4 COMMUNITY SECURITY ZONE

We’ve teamed up with the Angel’s key business stakeholders such as Islington Borough Police, Business Design Centre, RBS, Sainsbury’s, Angel Central, Vue Cinema, 02 Academy The Hilton, Derwent, Cancer Research, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and our PubWatch group to develop and drive emergency planning and security because the Angel is a busy, thriving place.
This means
• increasing everyone’s awareness
• showing every single BID business how to be vigilant and keep an eye out for anything unusual
• preparing the working community to manage the consequences of a major incident, keeping staff and customers safe.

We shall be holding more FREE counter-terror film screenings, running online fraud awareness training, and sessions on how to spot fake identity documents which are open to ALL BID businesses. We have already trained 620 employees of local businesses this year.

5

SAFETY & SECURITY TRAINING

220 employees trained every year

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5 SAFETY & SECURITY TRAINING

What better experts in safety than the police? Who better to train businesses they know well in security than the Angel Police Team?

Dedicated to the needs of your business, the team run sessions in personal security, how to protect your premises within the law, avoiding cyberfraud, and how to spot fake identity documents. Sessions are either general, or bespoke to your business on your premises if you have ten or more staff attending. They train at least 120 local employees every year, including M&S and RBS recently.

6

BUSINESS CRIME PARTNERSHIP

Joining up to combat crime

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6 BUSINESS CRIME PARTNERSHIP

We are proud of our crime fighting initiatives which have dramatically reduced crime and fear of crime at the Angel.

Our business crime partnership has a comprehensive view of these initiatives and has developed links between all the key agencies delivering them - our angel.london Police Team, Met Police counter-terror officers, Islington Council's Emergency Planners, and stakeholder businesses.

All our initiatives are pulled together under the Business Crime Partnership chaired by Matthew Crawford of After Noah which meets regularly to direct and develop cohesive policy and initiatives. Watch this space for meeting dates.

ANGEL POLICE TEAM

We are the only BID in the country with our own police team dedicated to fighting town centre crime and focusing on the needs of business. BID businesses pay for the team, they set the team's priorities, and have instant and exclusive hotline access to the team.

Our officers are on duty seven days a week, combating crime such as shoplifting, phone and bag theft, mugging, cashpoint theft, bike theft, and anti-social behaviour.

Building valuable relationships with businesses, the team pride themselves on getting to know staff, their security concerns, and sharing intelligence about known and regular criminals. They run exclusive training sessions for BID businesses in self-defence, reducing shrinkage and shoplifting, and safer cycling.

angel.london started life as a town centre which grew into a business improvement district as businesses refined their priorities for a safer, cleaner and brighter Angel. Making the Angel a more secure place, a better functioning and accountable place , really does create a kinder environment for everyone who works and lives here.

Everyone is welcome to join our meeting with the team sergeant every Monday afternoon to share intelligence and learn more about the latest incidents.

All angel.london businesses are welcome to have an informal chat with the police team regarding any crime or security concerns - they meet at 2-3pm on the last Monday of every month outside Cotswold Outdoor, 116 Islington High Street. Call the team hotline for anything requiring an instant response.

The team also holds a briefing meeting every week with St Mary's Safer Neighbourhoods Team.

WORKS IN 3 WAYS
  • 1
    highly visible and effective deterrent
  • 2
    undercover stings, spotting and catching thieves and muggers
  • 3
    creating a valuable link between police and the business community
2015 CRIME STATISTICS
640 hours
of Angel Police Team on the streets a month

The team are solving a whopping 42% of crimes which is only achieved by getting to know shop staff, likely targets, and watching carefully who’s doing what…
151 fewer people
had phones or bags stolen at Angel

Plain clothes stings and undercover operations are catching thieves and muggers red-handed. Two prolific thieves arrested for thefts of purses from bags on pushchairs one week in November

90 businesses
trained in counter terror or to spot fake ID

Everybody feels safer armed with expert knowledge of what to look for and how to tackle it. Our police team install confidence in your employees to handle security well

271 businesses
registered on Angel Crime Fighters website

This is the quickest and simplest way to share intelligence and images and fight crime. We're registering new businesses every day. Ask angel.london Police Team to sign your business up

60 police decoy operations
with bikes and phones

45% fewer bikes stolen this year after police decoy operations caught thieves, and sent out a zero tolerance message to others

45 incidents
instantly responded to per week

Don’t be nervous to call the angel.london Police Team hotline if there’s anything you think should be reported - it will always be taken seriously

12 beggars a week
are moved on and given appropriate support

Giving money to homeless people isn’t the best thing in the long run so we work with homeless charities to give them better help and care, and get them back on their feet

20 key businesses formed
our Community Security Zone

We’re better together, acting as a unified town centre in every sense

70 extra uniformed patrols
through setting up of Community Security Zone

We’ve attracted more high visibility policing to deter criminal activity of every kind

60 %
less shoplifting at Angel

45 %
fewer bike thefts

19 %
fewer people had phones or purses stolen from them
20 %
less crime in the last two years

Purple Flag recognises the work of bars, pubs, restaurants and venues striving to make a better night out. It reflects how well businesses are working towards Islington Council’s priority of managing the impact of night-life.

Christine Lovett, angel.london Chief Exec.

Angel PubWatch is the borough's most well attended and frequent pub watch group. The close working relationship has resulted in significant crime reduction in the area, particularly theft and violence with injury.

Kevin Blenkinsopp, Licensing Officer Sergeant.

Thank you so much angel.london for running the Forged ID workshop. It was THE most interesting session. Everyone enjoyed it and walked away much the wiser than when we arrived.

Joanna Theoklitou, CoffeeWorks Project.
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