Retail colleagues at Marks & Spencer’s (M&S) Ashton Moss store were joined by Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP on 1 April, to discuss how Auror’s retail crime intelligence and reporting platform helps nine out of 10 colleagues feel safer, and contributed to a 40 per cent reduction in violence and aggression in stores.
Auror Director of Law Enforcement UK & Ireland, and former London Met Police Officer, Paul Fagg, M&S Store Manager Sarah Hofstetter and Greater Manchester Police officers also attended the store visit to demonstrate the significant impact cross-industry collaboration through Auror is having on the high volume and violent problem of retail crime.
Paul said it was a privilege to meet the frontline retail colleagues making a difference and to share with Ms Rayner how digital reporting and collaboration between police and retailers is key to revitalising high streets and the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
“UK retailers like M&S are doing a fantastic job in coming together with other retailers within the Auror Network to surface the full scale and severity of the retail crime problem we’re up against,” he said.
“These insights help retailers make informed decisions to keep their people safe, while also identifying the highest harm, violent and prolific offenders.”
Sarah said “working in partnership with the police, other retailers and Auror makes a massive difference to our ability to prevent crime and knowing that we have the support of this technology helps our colleagues and customers feel safer in stores”.
Digital collaboration also reduces the time spent by police manually taking a report, collecting evidence, and investigating an individual's full breadth of offending.
Paul explained that “Auror is a game-changer for retailers and police”.
“They can deal with high volume crime at scale, connect what would previously be considered one-off crime events and use that insight to focus precious resources on the top offenders,” he said.
“In fact, one UK police force has reported a 10 per cent higher charge rate through Auror reports, and an average of 47 hours faster to process retail crime reports.”
Through diligent retail crime reporting from UK retailers like M&S, data from Auror shows the top 10 per cent of offenders are responsible for almost 70 per cent of retail crime in the UK, and those repeat offenders are up to four times more likely to be violent.
Police and retailers have used Auror to surface and dismantle various organised crime groups. For example, one group was responsible for 80 events totaling £264k at one retailer alone, and another violent offender was arrested by police after retailers linked them to over £120,000 in products across the UK.
About Auror
Auror is a global software company providing a Retail Crime Intelligence platform to the world’s leading retailers to record potential crime in their stores after it occurs, better collaborate with law enforcement on crime, and create safer stores for all.
Auror allows retailers to record events in a secure and structured way, helping them connect the dots to identify prolific and organised offenders. This information empowers retailers to make informed decisions to protect their people, customers, and property, and address the large scale of retail crime impacting our communities.
Globally, Auror is used by more than 85,000 retail stores and in more than 3,500 law enforcement agencies across North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Learn more at www.auror.co.
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