Met Police admits it is unable to respond to all shoplifting offences

The Metropolitan Police has admitted it is “unrealistic” for it to respond to every shoplifting case in London, falling back on pledges made in the government’s Retail Crime Action Plan.

At the end of 2023, the force made its Operation Retail crime reporting system more widely available, following a pilot in Autumn. The dedicated system allows retailers to report shop crime, where call handlers will make an assessment and “seek to dispatch officers where appropriate.”

The system was created to help the force assess which shop crimes to prioritise, as demand has made it “unrealistic” to attend every incident. In October 2023, the government unveiled its retail crime action plan. It pledged that police would attend every retail crime incident where violence occurred, a repeat or prolific offender was detained or where evidence needed promptly securing.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “Our New Met for London Plan is involving Londoners to give them a say in how their areas are policed. As part of this work we are collaborating with business and retail leads right across London to identify what matters to them, including the safety of shop based workers and shoplifting.

“While it is not realistic for the Met to respond to every case of shoplifting in London due to demand, where a crime is being committed, a suspect is on the scene, and the situation has or is likely to become heated or violent, our call handlers will assess this and seek to despatch officers where appropriate. A London-wide roll-out of Operation Retail is now in place, following a successful pilot, allowing more effective and stream-lined reporting of shoplifting where no offender has been detained or violence occurred. This provides consistency and confidence for retailers to report crimes.

“We work with retail leads in London and we know first-hand the impact shoplifting and attacks on shop workers is having on individual staff and the wider business community. We understand that staff who are trained to challenge and deescalate may feel obligated to intervene but the safety of those involved is our primary concern.”