The Police and the Avon and Somerset Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) has awarded Bath BID’s City Marshals the opportunity to deliver 50% of its total planned Hotspot Patrols per month, demonstrating its confidence and trust in the organisation.
The Home Office provides funding for the project to police forces via the Hotspot Action Fund. Bath BID’s City Marshals, working through the Safe and Secure Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP), has been chosen as the partner agency to support the Police with the delivery of these patrols starting from 14th May 2025.
This means that the team will be providing an extra 112 hours of City Marshal patrols per month across the city centre, helping to deter crime, provide community reassurance and create a safe and secure retail environment for businesses and customers.
Hotspot patrols are designed to increase the presence of high visibility uniformed patrols in locations suffering from high levels of anti-social behaviour and serious violence, and forces are encouraged to work in partnership with local authorities or other appropriate uniformed partners. During the 2024/25 delivery period the City Marshals supported the operation with additional patrols aligned to four Hotspots in Bath’s city centre.
Following the success of this partnership, Avon and Somerset OPCC and Police is now entrusting, and funding, the organisation to deliver half of its 2025/6 programme, whilst the other half will be delivered through increased Police patrols.
Inspector Graeme Hall at Avon and Somerset Police said: “Operation Haven provides a real opportunity for the Police in collaboration with our trusted partners at the Bath BID to provide a significant number of additional high visibility patrols targeting anti-social behaviour, serious violence and other crime which takes place in Bath City centre including shop theft which we recognise is a real concern for local business and communities”.
The positive impact of our Hotspot Patrols in 2024/5 along with the feedback we have received highlighting the desire amongst the community to see proactive foot patrols demonstrates the importance of this type of local operation. This year Operation Haven will enable us to significantly increase the number of visible patrols delivered in Bath City Centre. These will be in addition to the day-to-day policing operations and activity delivered by our officers such as our response and local neighbourhood policing teams as well as our partners at the Bath BID who will continue to be visible in the city.
Bath BID’s City Marshals provide an invaluable service to Bath’s city centre, helping to create a secure retail environment for businesses but also providing reassurance to the public, particularly with the strong rapport they have built with many of Bath’s business owners.”
There is a clear need for this type of campaign, with businesses all over the UK facing an increase in shoplifting and antisocial behaviour. According to a recent report, between April 2024 and March 2025, Avon and Somerset Police Officers spent more than 10,000 hours on additional foot patrols targeting anti-social behaviour (ASB) and serious violence.
Nick Bishop, Business Manager at Bath BID, said of the project: “It’s crucial that businesses and local people feel secure and comfortable in Bath’s city centre. Whilst we are lucky to operate in a largely safe city, we know the strain that businesses are facing with an increase in shoplifting and anti-social behaviour. We also know that there are areas in Bath that would significantly benefit from the presence of uniformed patrols, not only to deter potential crime but also to provide reassurance to members of the public and our business community.”
“We are really pleased to be able to support this initiative and honoured to have been chosen as a trusted partner by the police, who we have worked closely with for a number of years. Our City Marshals work exceptionally hard to keep our city safe and we look forward to seeing them on the streets more frequently, alongside our local police force.”
In Bath the City Marshals will be supporting with the patrolling of six hotspot locations identified by police data. The date and time of the patrols will be determined by a police patrol matrix which identifies the ‘hottest’ times on any given day.
The City Marshals will deliver this activity in addition to their current existing patrol hours, this will ensure that BCRP staff are not ‘double funded’ and that the public will see a marked increase in patrols.
For more information about the Bath Safe and Secure Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) and how you can support its work, click here.
