Crime app Disc will see police, Asda, Morrisons, council and Nexus unite to stamp out crime in South Shields

Police patrolling South Shields town centre. Final preparations are underway to pilot a new crime-fighting app to help tackle problems in the area.

Police hope that Disc, an information-sharing service, could help them share information from key locations and businesses about repeat offenders or missing people.

And officers are now just waiting for final funding to be put in place for a pilot scheme to start in South Shields.

“I’ve had meetings with the company and we have the funding agreed and waiting there from the PCC’s office to pay for the pilot here in South Shields,” said Sgt David Stobbs, of Northumbria Police.

“It will be a force lead, the first of its kind in Northumbria, and it’s with a view to eventually roll out to other communities.

“It will be a small dedicated cohort of users initially, so we can manage how it works between ourselves as a neighbourhood team and stores such as Asda and Morrisons, the town hall cameras, the Nexus interchange to communicate with each other.”

Sgt Stobbs was speaking at a meeting of South Tyneside Council’s Riverside Community Area Forum (CAF) on January 26, which was held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.

Disc has already been rolled out in towns such as Sheffield, where it has allowed police, businesses and the local community to pool intelligence and clamp down on anti-social behaviour.

Schemes such as Pubwatch and Shopwatch are also expected to be involved, with developers behind the app claiming it can help communities and businesses “self-manage” low-level crime and antisocial behaviour.

More than 500 towns and city centres in the UK use Disc, as well as national retailers, many of the largest shopping centres in the country, security companies and police forces.

The company behind he software call it a ‘game-changer’ which allows police forces to deliver more effective, joined-up community policing, and as well as offer more support, ‘more efficiently, and securely than ever before’.

The team said Disc can also be used to manage covid restrictions, allowing police and businesses to keep track of individuals who repeatedly flout the rules.

The software firm said it had continued to see growth through the pandemic, with more areas coming on board with the Disc app.

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