PCC Katy Bourne OBE Drives National and Local Action on Retail Crime

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Katy Bourne has chaired the final Pegasus Partnership board meeting, where national retailers join forces with UK policing to tackle serious organised retail crime.

Katy Bourne spearheaded the Pegasus Partnership in 2023 with 13 of the UK’s leading retailers pledging to fund a team of specialist police officers and analysts working within a national law enforcement structure known as Opal.

Pegasus set out the blueprint for a sustainable, national response to retail crime and Opal is the operational team turning that vision into reality today. The ongoing work will now sit under the National Business Crime Centre’s ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together’ campaign.

Since the unit went live in May 2024, the Opal team has supported 196 referrals resulting in 84 operations tackling serious organised crime gangs (OCGs). They’ve identified 739 offenders and recovered thousands of pounds worth of stolen goods, resulting in 251 arrests, 118 imprisonments and 20 deportations. In 2025, the Opal team saw a massive 73% reduction in offending by OCGs referred to the unit.

Opal’s achievements are built on the unique foundations laid by Pegasus, which attracted £1 million in initial funding and a further £5 million from the Government after demonstrating clear impact against OCGs.

Speaking about the success of the partnership, PCC Katy Bourne said: “I am immensely proud of what we have achieved through Pegasus. We have enabled retailers to come together and share vital intelligence on the impact of organised retail crime, we have funded and launched a dedicated policing unit that is securing major arrests nationwide, and we have restored confidence that this crime is neither ignored nor unchallenged. We are now building a stronger, more resilient national response to this abhorrent criminal activity.

“I want to extend my sincere thanks to the retailers who kept faith and helped establish Pegasus and to the Opal team for their continued commitment and professionalism. Pegasus has proven to be one of the most successful private/public partnerships ever established within UK policing and I am pleased to have played my part in making this happen.”

Alongside her national role as chair of the Pegasus Partnership, PCC Katy Bourne continues to drive local action to reduce business and retail crime across Sussex.

Last week, she convened another meeting of the Safer Sussex Business Partnership, bringing together retailers, police and local agencies to share updates and discuss recent issues across Sussex.

The meeting focused on reducing shop theft through the Op STOP project – the first pilot of its kind in the UK electronically tagging prolific shoplifters and providing offenders with support to address the root causes of their behaviour.

PCC Katy Bourne continued “I established our Safer Sussex Business Partnership (SSBP) in 2020 to bridge a gap in communication between retailers, police and the agencies tackling business and retail crime. By bringing everyone together, we have considerably improved Sussex Police’s response to business crime as well as feelings of safety across our retail community.”

“The SSBP model was my inspiration behind the national Pegasus Partnership. The principle is the same: when police receive timely, accurate intelligence about what is affecting businesses and communities, they can build a clear crime picture and act decisively to apprehend those causing our high streets the most harm.”

If you are a business or shop in Sussex and would like to join our Safer Sussex Business Partnership, contact: pcc@sussex-pcc.gov.uk.