Shoplifters are increasingly hitting the city center of Coevorden. High time for action, the city’s entrepreneurs believe. They argue for more cooperation with the police and the municipality, within a so-called ‘Quality Mark for Safe Entrepreneurship.’
According to center manager Edwin Boomstra, it is not just that there is more ‘proletarian shopping’ in the Goose City. “What we especially notice is that thieves have more and more bravado. They dare to take action more easily, sometimes even in plain sight. They are bolder. They also know exactly when and where it is best to take action. Theft is real an issue here.”
In fact, everything that is for sale in stores can be of interest to thieves, Boomstra knows. “From items of clothing to phone cases, sometimes we hear the craziest things that have been stolen.”
The shopkeepers in the city have been working closely together for some time, by keeping each other informed of criminal events through an app group. And more specifically, by providing descriptions of potential perpetrators or known shoplifters. “That often works well. If there is a suspicious situation at a particular store, fellow entrepreneurs will quickly come to the rescue after a report.”
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