THIEVES and troublemakers will face the Hill Street blues thanks to a unique police initiative. The innovative scheme, successfully piloted in America, is being brought to the UK by Cleveland Police.
Middlesbrough's Hill Street shopping centre will get its own police patrol to reassure shoppers and attempt to stamp out crime.
The unique partnership to fund the patrol involves Hill Street bosses paying overtime for police officers to patrol its malls during opening hours.
Sergeant Neil Johnson, of the Cleveland force's commercial squad, has developed the scheme with Ian McLelland, of the centre's management team.
Sgt Johnson said: "Having a high-profile uniform officer patrolling the shopping centre will strengthen the role of the regular security staff and will be a deterrent to thieves, beggars and people intent on anti-social behaviour."
The partnership scheme will initially be piloted for six months and could be extended to elsewhere in the Cleveland Police area if successful.
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