Shoplifting Figures Take A Tumble In Wrexham Town Centre

Shoplifting figures in Wrexham town centre have taken a sharp decline in 2012 police have revealed.

In May this year shoplifting was down a massive 27% year on year and in June were down 17% on the previous year.

Wrexham Town Inspector Mark Williams shared the positive news with traders at a meeting of the Wrexham Town Centre Forum this morning.

Inspector Williams put the fall in such crime down to an increased police presence in the town over the last year.

The town centre recently got its own dedicated PCSO and a further five are expected to start tackling crime in the next few months.

Commenting on the figures Inspector Williams said: “Over the last 12 months we’ve flooded the town with uniform officers and the figures show that it works.

“At one point we were dealing with 30 shoplifters per week, but that number has come down significantly.

“North Wales Police will also continue to hand out Section 27 notices if people are under the influence and could potentially be involved in violent crime.”

The notices allow police to ask someone to leave the area for 48 hours, Wrexham.com was recently informed by local traders of a marked increase in police using the notices to disperse people being drunk and disorderly.

Local shop owner Haydn Taylor welcomed the news, he said: “I want the message to get out of this meeting that Wrexham is a pleasant and safe place to shop and the figures prove it.”

Despite the largely positive outlook Inspector Williams added that two areas that were still of concern are public disorder during the night time trade and thefts from nightclubs.

He said: “We have seen a big spike in thefts from nightclubs, where people are leaving their handbags and phones lying around.”

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