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Pubwatch & BIG Banning Enforcement System

TownSafe enables Business Improvement Groups and Pubwatch schemes to automatically enforce existing exclusion bans across participating venues.

Venues are already required to check the Pubwatch App for excluded individuals. TownSafe helps staff perform this visual check more consistently.

Protect Your Town Centre

Enable participating businesses to automatically identify individuals who have been banned for violence, theft, harassment or antisocial behaviour - before incidents escalate.

  • ✔ Night-time economy safety
  • ✔ Retail crime prevention
  • ✔ Staff protection
  • ✔ Anti-social behaviour management
  • ✔ Town-wide collaboration
  • ✔ Multi-venue intelligence
  • ✔ Hospitality + Retail
  • ✔ SMS Alerting
  • ✔ CMS Dashboard

Supports Existing Pubwatch & Shopwatch Banning Schemes


TownSafe does not replace existing Pubwatch, Shopwatch or BIG exclusion schemes.

Instead, it enables participating venues to automatically enforce bans already agreed by local safety partnerships.

  • Automatically identify excluded individuals on entry
  • Discreet SMS alert to venue staff
  • Staff confirm or dismiss potential matches via CMS
  • Audit log of exclusion enforcement actions
  • Supports cross-venue collaboration

TownSafe provides an operational enforcement layer for exclusion policies already in place within local Pubwatch and BIG partnerships.

The Problem


Business Improvement Groups invest heavily in CCTV networks, town wardens, exclusion lists and radio schemes. Yet banned individuals frequently re-enter venues because:

  • Staff are busy with other duties
  • It's very difficult to recognise offenders from a long list on an App
  • Remembering peoples faces is very difficult

The Solution


TownSafe enables participating BIG members to:

  • Automatically identify banned individuals upon entry
  • Alert staff discreetly via SMS
  • Staff can confirm or dismiss alerts using CMS
  • Maintain GDPR-compliant access controls
  • Operate across hospitality and retail sectors

Supports BID Safety & Crime Reduction Objectives


TownSafe assists Business Improvement Districts in achieving measurable safety outcomes required for BID business plans and funding justification.

  • Reduction in repeat offender entry
  • Improved enforcement of exclusion policies
  • Improved staff safety in retail & night-time economy
  • Reduced police attendance for known individuals
  • Faster venue response to incidents
  • Improved reporting and audit trail

Supports BID objectives relating to:

  • Retail crime prevention
  • Night-time economy safety
  • Violence reduction initiatives
  • Police licensing partnership working
  • Safer Streets funding applications
  • Purple Flag accreditation

Governance & Data Protection


TownSafe has been designed to support the enforcement of existing Pubwatch exclusion policies within a structured governance framework.

TownSafe processes only those images already lawfully maintained by PubWatch schemes for the prevention of crime within licensed premises. The system does not create new offender records or make automated decisions, but assists venue staff in performing required manual watchlist checks more consistently. All alerts require human review prior to action, and data is processed in accordance with Article 10 UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 for the purpose of crime prevention and public safety.

📜 Watchlist Control

All watchlist entries are managed by authorised Pubwatch administrators via a secure web-based Admin CMS.

  • ✔ Names and images uploaded locally by Pubwatch staff
  • ✔ Records may be amended or removed at any time
  • ✔ No third-party commercial use of watchlist data
  • ✔ Access restricted to authorised personnel only

🔐 Local Processing

Facial comparison is performed locally within participating venues using encrypted facial encodings.

  • ✔ No live CCTV video streamed to the cloud
  • ✔ Biometric templates stored securely
  • ✔ Venue-level permissions enforced
  • ✔ Data minimisation by design

📊 Human Review Process

Potential matches are presented to authorised venue staff for confirmation prior to any operational decision being made.

  • ✔ Staff review required
  • ✔ Timestamped image capture
  • ✔ False-positive mitigation
  • ✔ Operational audit trail maintained

🧾 Compliance Support

TownSafe deployments are supported by:

  • ✔ Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) templates
  • ✔ Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
  • ✔ Role-based access control
  • ✔ Alignment with licensing objectives

TownSafe is intended to support proportionate enforcement of existing exclusion policies within participating venue networks.

TownSafe GDPR & Governance Pack

Supporting documentation for PubWatch schemes, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), and Local Authority safety partnerships.

📄 Download TownSafe DPIA 📄 Download Why TownSafe is GDPR Compliant

Watchlist Administration & Venue Review


Pubwatch Admin CMS

Watchlist updates are managed by authorised Pubwatch or BIG safety partnership representatives in accordance with locally agreed exclusion policies.

  • Add excluded individuals name and photo
  • Delete excluded individuals name and photo
  • View last confirmed detection

Access controls ensure only authorised safety partnership staff may update shared exclusion records.

Venue Watchlist Users Page

Participating venues receive discreet SMS alerts when a potential match is detected upon entry.

  • Secure venue-level access
  • View potential matches
  • Timestamped alert images
  • Confirm or dismiss alerts based on comparison with Pubwatch App images
  • Equipment in venues has no access to excluded individuals photos

Human confirmation supports proportional enforcement of locally agreed exclusion policies.

Screenshot of Admin CMS

Watchlist Admin CMS

Screenshot of Venue CMS

Watchlist Venue CMS

Demo looking for Amorphic staff

How It Works


1. Local Exclusion Added

An individual is banned from a participating BIG venue.

2. Watchlist Updated

The exclusion is shared across authorised venues.

3. Entry Attempt

Entry camera detects and compares encrypted face encoding locally.

4. Staff Alerted

SMS alert sent if match exceeds confidence threshold.

Sectors Supported by TownSafe


TownSafe supports real-time safeguarding across hospitality, retail, public services and transport environments.

Hospitality
  • Bars
  • Restaurants
  • Cafés
  • Hotels
  • Late-night food outlets
Entertainment
  • Nightclubs
  • Cinemas
  • Football grounds
  • Event venues
  • Music venues
Retail
  • High street shops
  • Supermarkets
  • Shopping centres
  • Retail parks
Recreational
  • Bowling alleys
  • Snooker halls
  • Leisure centres
  • Gaming venues
Mobility
  • Taxi ranks
  • Ride-share operators
  • Rail stations
  • Bus stations
Public Sector
  • Courts
  • DWP Job Centres
  • City Council buildings
  • Housing offices
  • Public reception areas

TownSafe enables participating organisations to work together through a shared, GDPR-compliant safeguarding network — helping to improve situational awareness across town and city centres.

BID Funding Options


TownSafe is designed to be deployed as shared town-centre safety infrastructure — not as an individual venue expense.

🏛️ BID-Funded Infrastructure

TownSafe may be deployed through Business Improvement District (BID) levy funding as part of a coordinated town-centre safety strategy.

This allows participating venues to benefit from shared enforcement infrastructure without requiring individual capital investment.

  • ✔ Supports BID safety KPIs
  • ✔ Assists Purple Flag accreditation
  • ✔ Demonstrates proactive crime prevention
  • ✔ Protects levy payer trading environments

👮 Partnership With Pubwatch & Licensing

TownSafe operates in support of existing Pubwatch exclusion policies. The watchlist remains under Pubwatch control, with authorised administrators managing entries and removals.

This governance-led model aligns with licensing objectives relating to crime prevention and public safety.

  • ✔ Policy-led deployment
  • ✔ Clear accountability structure
  • ✔ DPIA & governance documentation provided
  • ✔ Local authority collaboration supported

💷 Structured Deployment Options

Pilot Programme

Limited venue trial to evaluate operational effectiveness, alert accuracy and governance workflow before wider roll-out.

Town-Wide BID Rollout

Full deployment across participating hospitality and retail venues, creating shared enforcement coverage across a defined geographic area.

Phased Expansion

Begin within the night-time economy and extend to retail, transport hubs and event venues as appropriate.

Request a Demonstration

Arrange a TownSafe demonstration for your Business Improvement Group or Pubwatch scheme.

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