We spent a day on the Walsall frontline with police and saw the fight against crime in real time

I watched on as multiple arrests were made in the cops' continued battle to keep residents and visitors safe from criminal activity in their town centre.

The new campaign - tied in with the National Business Crime Centre’s (NBCC) Safer Business Action week which started on Monday, October 14 - sent out a dedicated team of both uniformed and non-uniformed officers who are working closely with businesses and targeting offenders who commit business crime.

They are also working closely alongside partners including Walsall Council, housing associations and drug and alcohol support groups to offer support to vulnerable people who could be tempted to commit shoplifting offences.

The campaign is headed by Pc Courtney Tongue from West Midlands Police, who hit headlines last month by saving a precious cocker spaniel puppy's life after it was handed to her in a carrier bag by an upset woman who could not 'look after her' anymore.

The top cop - who is part of the St Matthews team in Walsall - said during the campaign that there has been a 'huge' increase in shoplifting in Walsall in the last few months for a number of 'different' reasons including drug addiction, financial and mental health struggles.

So, joined by her colleagues they knew they had to step things up when it became clear that the level of violence had increased and a greater focus on the issue was needed.

I arrived around 9.30am, and within an hour I watched on as cops surrounded a man suspected of being a 'prolific' shoplifter who had previously stolen over £250 worth of stock from a store and, with the communication available through the transport police and businesses, a suspect was carefully taken down and loaded into the back of a police van - an arrest that may not have been spotted without the careful implementation of Courtney's campaign.

Speaking exclusively to the Express & Star, Courtney, said: "There's been a huge increase in shoplifting in Walsall, and the violence has become more violent. Those committing the crimes are now possibly using weapons and assaulting staff. The campaign is designed to put a stop to it and reassure the public that they're safe to be out in their town. We've had some great feedback that it's working.

"Today we started nice and early, we had our usual morning briefing and was out on patrol around 9am where we've already had some good results. We caught a prolific shoplifter just before 10.15AM with multi-agency teamwork. I was at the bus station looking at the Cannock bus line - a huge target - when it came over the radio from BTP and Safer Travel who were made aware with link radios used by store security of the suspect. We followed him through CCTV and met him on his travels then made the arrest.

"The bottom line is we want locals and businesses to feel safe, we can't do it alone and we're working with brilliant people across multiple departments, businesses and security teams to make that happen."