A Nantwich police chief has issued a warning over a rise in “travelling criminals” targeting the town.
Sgt Matt Stonier said there has been a rise in shoplifting thefts around the town, particularly in supermarkets.
And he told Nantwich Town Council that many were from outside the borough.
“We are seeing a higher level of shoplifting than we’d like to see,” he told councillors.
“This is mainly in the town’s supermarkets. And a lot of the offenders are from outside the force area.”
Sgt Stonier hailed the greater use of facial recognition technology which he says is increasing capture and conviction rates.
He added: “The technology has been very successful when investigating these offences.
“It’s not always easy to identify people just from CCTV images, but with facial recognition we can process those CCTV images through our database.
“This is producing some very successful results. We are able to arrest and prosecute these travelling criminals.
“We are working with the stores and trying to ensure they implement things like locked cabinets for expensive items.”
Sgt Stonier also added the local officers were gearing up for the Nantwich Jazz Festival in April which he said is one of the biggest events on the policing calendar.
“In recent years, since Covid, we’ve thankfully seen far less incidents at the festival,” he added.
“But all local officers will be on duty that weekend as well as officers being brought in from around the force.”
Nantwich Jazz Festival this year will run from Thursday April 17 to Easter Monday April 21.
Cllr Kim Jamson praised the local officers for their support of the Nantwich Street Angels initiative, which sees volunteers out late at night providing help for potentially vulnerable young women.
“The police have been very kind and supportive, it’s very reassuring they are looking out for us especially as we don’t get back until 3.30am,” she added.
Just another excuse to scare people into accepting facial recognition, big brother is watching.