Police ask pubs to remove AWP machines
A group representing pub gaming machine operators has slammed police for advising licensees to reduce crime by removing machines from their pubs.
Police in Stevenage, Hertfordshire wrote to licensees suggesting removing all machines would be one method of reducing crime.
The letter stated: "Do you really need the gaming machine? By removing the machine from the property you are removing the inducement to commit crime."
Police also set out some security steps warning that failure to follow advice could be seen as a failure to abide by the four licensing objectives.
"I couldn't believe it when one of our customers showed me the letter they'd received," said Ken Mullarkey, national sales executive for the IOA Group.
"It's ridiculous, a bit like recommending people cycle to work in order to reduce the risk of car crime. It clearly hasn't been thought through and at a time when many police forces appear to be taking machine crime seriously it's a little bit disappointing.
"Gaming machines generate an important revenue stream for pubs up and down the country and to suggest that they should be removed in order to remove the inducement to commit crime is simply crazy."