WBBCP (formerly known as Wigan ‘Shop Watch’) is a retail crime prevention partnership comprising retailers, security operatives and Police Community Support Officers from GMP supported by the Wigan CCTV suite.

Formed by Wigan town centre management and CPD Communications (who fund it), it operates via the use of a 2-way radio system by which members alert each other when a crime-related incident is taking place, (the scheme has also been instrumental in finding vulnerable and missing persons).

The primary aim of WBBCP is to provide a coordinated approach to retail crime prevention and detection, this includes:

• Information sharing with members and partner agencies about both local and travelling offenders.
• The gathering and sharing of intelligence with similar schemes in the North West.
• An exclusion scheme prohibiting offenders from entering ‘any members premises.
• Store security assessments with training where necessary.
• The reduction of criminal losses to a retailer not just at a local level but across the entire business.