A male entered a store and tried on a Rolex Watch. He was communicating with someone outside who was pretending to look at the displays in the window. Their behaviour was noticed by a security guard who contacted the CCTV operators (BV) to inform them. BV contacted the store manager to share recent information of this suspicious male and as a result he was refused service. The male and the person outside then left the area and headed to another jewellery store who was also a member of shopwatch. Their descriptions were shared over the shopwatch radio and another shopwatch member had recognised who the males were and informed all members they were wanted for high value thefts. Two additional shopwatch members shared the males direction of travel and further vital intelligence by describing their behaviour and activity throughout. This information was being relayed to the police.
By working together with BV, a police unit was deployed and the males were arrested. They were wanted for £45K worth of jewellery thefts from multiple stores across the South East. The acute observation and active participation amongst the 4 shopwatch members enabled the positive outcome of their arrest. Their actions prevented further thefts taking place in Oxford and they have also helped to bring two prolific jewellery thieves to justice.