New Strategic Partnership Launches to Help Towns and Cities Strengthen Intelligence-Led Community Safety Partnerships
Uniting technology, intelligence, and partnership working to combat crime and improve community safety
A new strategic partnership between Apex Radio Systems, the National Retail Crime Alliance (NRCA), UK Partners Against Crime (UKPAC), Retailers Against Crime (RAC) and SentrySIS has been launched to help towns and cities develop stronger, more connected approaches to tackling crime, anti-social behaviour and wider community safety challenges.
The initiative has been created to support Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs), town centre partnerships, local authorities, police, and community safety teams by bringing together the key operational elements required to establish and manage effective crime-reduction partnerships.
Across the UK, many towns and cities already have elements of crime-reduction activity in place, whether through ShopWatch schemes, PubWatch groups, radio networks, reporting platforms, or local partnership initiatives. However, these systems often operate independently, limiting visibility, coordination and long-term effectiveness.
This new partnership provides a more joined-up operational framework, combining communication, intelligence management, incident reporting, offender management and partnership collaboration into a single coordinated model.
The partnership will support areas looking to:
- Strengthen existing BID and town centre crime reduction activity
- Improve intelligence sharing between businesses and police
- Better identify and manage repeat offenders
- Increase engagement across local business communities
- Establish or enhance Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs)
- Improve coordination between businesses, police, local authorities and community safety partners
- Create safer town and city centre environments through intelligence-led collaboration
Apex Radio Systems brings extensive experience supporting ShopWatch, PubWatch and business communication schemes across the UK, helping connect local businesses and frontline teams through critical communication systems and operational support.
The NRCA, owned by UKPAC, provides dedicated expertise in retail crime intelligence, offender management and national partnership development, supporting areas in building more proactive and intelligence-led crime reduction strategies.
Retailers Against Crime (RAC) supports businesses with actionable intelligence, offender identification and information sharing to help prevent and reduce crime.
SentrySIS provides secure incident reporting and intelligence-sharing technology, helping partnerships manage information more effectively and improve operational visibility across multiple stakeholders.
This partnership represents a significant step towards a more connected and collaborative approach to community safety – one that recognises effective crime reduction cannot be achieved in isolation.
By bringing together technology providers, intelligence platforms, operational expertise and partnership networks, the initiative offers towns and cities a practical route to strengthening existing schemes and improving real-world outcomes.
Together, the partners share a clear vision: safer, better-connected communities where businesses can thrive and people feel protected.
Book a Community Safety Partnership review here:
“Town and city centre crime reduction is no longer simply about having a radio scheme or incident reporting platform in place. The real challenge is creating a joined-up partnership where businesses, police, local authorities and community safety teams can work together effectively using shared intelligence and coordinated operational processes.
At Apex Radio Systems, we’ve seen firsthand how reliable communication can transform operational response. As the supplier of communication devices that sit at the heart of many ShopWatch and crime reduction schemes, we understand that technology alone is not enough.
This partnership has been developed to support towns and cities with a complete operational framework that strengthens communication, intelligence sharing and collaborative working to help create safer environments for businesses, staff and the wider community.
We are proud to provide the operational glue that helps bring these elements together”
Phil Wynne, Business Development Manager at Apex Radio Systems
“As Chairman of UKPAC, I am delighted to announce our partnership with Apex Radio Systems, marking an important step in strengthening support for Business Improvement Districts and Business Crime Reduction Partnerships across the UK.
UKPAC and Apex share a common goal – creating safer towns and city centres through stronger collaboration between businesses, local authorities, policing teams and community safety partners.
By combining partnership expertise with trusted communication technology, we can help improve intelligence sharing, strengthen operational response and support our members in building safer, better-connected communities.”
Gareth Lewis, Chairman at UKPAC
“Retail crime and anti-social behaviour rarely affect a single business, sector or location, which is why collaboration and intelligence sharing are so important.
By bringing together Apex Radio Systems expertise in business communication networks, SentrySIS’ intelligence and reporting capabilities, and the NRCA’s expertise in offender management and partnership development, this initiative provides a practical framework for business, police and community safety partners to work more effectively together.
Through stronger collaboration, improved information sharing and a coordinated approach to identifying and managing prolific and travelling offenders, we can help create safer town and city centre environments for businesses, employees and the wider community.”
Simon Ford, Head of Business Engagement at the NRCA
“Intelligence is powerful. Communication is essential. Together, they create a stronger defence against retail crime.
By bringing together RAC’s trusted intelligence and Apex Radio Systems’ communication expertise, we are building a more connected and resilient support network for our mutual members. This collaboration empowers businesses to share critical information, respond quickly and work collectively to prevent crime and protect their communities.
Together, we are stronger.”
Stephanie Karte, CEO at Retailers Against Crime (RAC)
“Apex Radio Systems plays a vital role in keeping businesses and frontline teams connected. SentrySIS strengthens that by providing secure incident reporting and intelligence-sharing technology that helps partnerships identify repeat offenders and share critical information more effectively.
Together with Apex, NRCA, UKPAC and RAC we are helping towns and cities build a more joined-up, intelligence-led approach to reducing crime and improving safety.”
Chris Nriapia, Director at SentrySIS
