Currys today announced the rollout of a new crime reporting tool to all its stores, following a successful trial.
Since Currys announced its largest annual investment in store safety measures earlier this year, there has been a 58% reduction in reported aggressive thefts, compared to the year before. Auror’s software plays a pivotal role as a tool in improving the accuracy and speed of crime reporting.
In a secure environment, stores can easily record quality information about crimes and the perpetrators, which are then matched and connected with offences nationwide. As a result, store colleagues are better informed about current threats, and law enforcement has more comprehensive information to build cases, aiming to increase safety for both colleagues and customers.
This initiative eliminates fragmented communication channels used to report crime and theft in stores, such as emails and messages, ensuring a streamlined and secure process. Store teams are encouraged to include a police or crime reference number when logging reports and provide detailed descriptions and images to enhance intelligence linking and pattern identification.
Currys is committed to colleague safety and crime prevention, leveraging its partnership with Auror to help deliver tangible results.
Currys Chief Operating Officer Lindsay Haselhurst said the rollout of the Auror platform across all our UK&I stores marks another important step in our commitment to making our stores a safer place to work and shop.
"This technology has already helped us identify repeat offenders, prevent stock loss, and support police investigations more effectively. By transforming how we capture and share intelligence, we’re building a smarter, faster, and more unified approach to tackling retail crime," she said.
Auror Senior Director Trust and Safety Nick McDonnell said Auror’s software has modernised the crime reporting process for retailers, helping them to identify the repeat offenders, and better collaborate with law enforcement to keep their stores and communities safe.
"We help thousands of retailers and law enforcement partners around the world to address retail crime in their communities and we are excited to continue this work in the UK with Currys," he said.
"We know the top 10 per cent of offenders were responsible for more than 65 per cent of crime in retail across the UK last year, and globally, one in every 10 retail crime events involve violence or weapons, as recorded by our retailers.
"Retail crime is not victimless - it’s often violent, threatening and organised. It impacts our communities, our frontline workers and robs our high-streets and town centres of their vibrancy. We’re proud to support Currys in improving colleague safety and making their stores and communities safer for all.”