Hooligans causing havoc are set to be caught red-handed by new hi-tech approach
A police car by Peterborough’s Asda store. The city has been battling shoplifting and antisocial beh (Image: Paul Marriott/Daily Express)
Shops terrorised by yobs as young as nine in a major UK city have been given panic alarms as a new hi-tech approach is rolled out in a desperate bid to catch hooligans red-handed. Peterborough has recently extended a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) – which bans begging, street drinking and other loutish acts – for another three years due to persistent antisocial behaviour blighting the city centre.
Residents frequently complain about shoplifters and drunken thugs hurling abuse, with the city’s crime rate well above average. But now Peterborough Positive, the business improvement district set up to support firms in the area, has given stores access to an exclusive hi-tech app to report crimes and send information straight to the police. It includes a rogues’ gallery of the worst shoplifters and offenders, so stores can alert each other to known crooks loitering around the city centre.
Pep Cipriano, Peterborough Positive’s chief operating officer, said about 100 businesses are using the new app, which was linked to Cambridgeshire police’s systems about two months ago.
“It’s now become a crime reporting app in the palm of your hand,” he said.
“It’s been a game-changer for us and businesses in the city centre, where they are able to share information about crimes. We have 26 police officers using it daily.”
Police statistics show that Peterborough’s crime rate for the 12-month period ending in December 2025 was well above average, with 116.47 offences per 1,000 population. The England average in April 2026 was 68.
The city – the fifth-fastest-growing in the UK, with an estimated population of 220,000 – scored particularly highly for theft from a person and possession of weapons, with 0.94 and 2.05 offences per 1,000 people, respectively.
Pep Cipriano believes the app has made a difference to cutting city centre crime (Image: Peterborough Positive)
A 70-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, spoke of her experiences of antisocial behaviour in Peterborough.
“Every step you take, someone wants money. There must be unemployment, otherwise there wouldn’t be this many people in town,” she said.
“You get antisocial behaviour. You just have to steer clear. Loud music is another terrible thing. I sometimes feel threatened here. If you smile at someone, they’d say ‘what are you looking at?’”
Earlier this year, the Express also revealed how drunken men were acting aggressively in the street, and vandals were spray-painting public buildings.
“It’s got worse and worse in the last three years,” said Laura Kavaliauskaite. “I see a lot of people drunk or high on drugs in the city centre every day.
“There’s been more thefts, too, as a result.
“There’s a group of youngsters who are always around the town, and they’re getting more aggressive towards people. They go into shops, some as young as nine or 10 years old, swearing at people and putting up middle fingers.”
A Public Spaces Protection Order in Peterborough was extended earlier this year (Image: Paul Marriott/Daily Express)
Mr Cipriano said Peterborough Positive “clearly have made an impact” with the new app and other methods, which include giving panic alarms to shop staff.
But he added: “Let’s remember that we’re not immune to shoplifting. This is a countrywide problem.
“There are various reasons why shoplifting has increased over the last number of years. The cost of living, clearly, is one of them. But I think, as a city, we’re combating it pretty well.”
Cambridgeshire Mayor Paul Bristow hailed Peterborough Positive for making a “real difference”, but said: “The police need to enforce the law.
“When I was the MP here, we had some great success with the police beginning to use enforcement, and city centre street drinking stops. The second you take your foot off the gas, it comes back again.
“So we need proper, sensible enforcement coordinated together by the police and by the city council. There is nothing kind or compassionate about allowing people to kill themselves openly in Peterborough city centre by drinking too much alcohol on the street.”
Cambridgeshire Mayor Paul Bristow believes the ‘police need to enforce the law’ (Image: Andrew Papworth)
Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes agreed that police and council wardens “need to do their job properly”, but added that they must “get the investment for it”.
He added: “One of the big things people talk to me about is the lack of police on the streets.”
A total of 12 new officers have been put in the PE1 postcode area recently. Mr Pakes said “that’s not enough”, but said it was “certainly a down payment on the kind of change I want to see in the city”.
He went on to say: “People feel reassured when they see someone in a hi-vis jacket walking around. We continue to get that investment in more visible policing.”
Shabina Qayyum, leader of Peterborough City Council, said: “People are quite justified in saying what they are saying, because it happens.
“We genuinely believe that the drivers behind antisocial behaviour are youth not being able to do anything.” She blamed the previous government for taking away youth centres.
“We really do, as an administration, want to make sure that the youth of our city feel empowered, they’ve got something to do,” she added.
A Cambridgeshire Constabulary spokesman said: “We recognise that shoplifting has a significant effect on both the business community and local residents.
“Our ongoing commitment is to ensure Peterborough remains a safer place for everyone. By working closely with our communities, we aim to reduce crime and strengthen trust between the public and law enforcement.”
The force said a recently appointed retail crime officer had played a pivotal role in the rollout of the new hi-tech app.
The spokesperson added: “We are dedicated to improving our retail crime response in accordance with the neighbourhood policing guarantee. Our efforts are concentrated on a specific and enhanced focus on retail crime in the city centre, and over the past 12 months, we have achieved a higher detection rate for shoplifting offences.”