Police in worst-hit shoplifting areas react to rise

Police forces from the UK’s worst-hit shoplifting areas have spoken out about attempts to cope with the crime, and how they are looking to support retailers. Nationally, shoplifting reports jumped 30% in the last year alone, according to newly released Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

The ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales, released on 24 July, showed shoplifting reports reaching a 20-year high, with the worst-hit areas being City of London (+34.57%), Sussex (+34.05%), Durham (+31.79%), Derbyshire (+31.31%), and South Wales (+31.18%).

British Transport Police (BTP), saw the highest year-on-year rise in shoplifting offences at 46.10%, followed by City of London, but both these factions recorded low levels of incidents: BTP recorded 1,923 incidents in 2022-2023, and 3,568 in 2023-2024, while City of London rose from 704 incidents to 1,076 incidents.

Meanwhile, Cleveland (+2.17%), Staffordshire (+2.69%) and Suffolk (+5.48%) were the regions to see the lowest increase in shoplifting.

For a complete table of year-on-year increases for all regions in the UK, click here.

Better Retailing did not receive comments from Durham or Sussex police.

City of London

Patrick Holdaway, superintendent at National Crime and Business Centre (NBCC), hosted in City of London, said: “There is a slight increase. We’re very proactive, what we see nationally is a massive underreporting of retail crime. Where there are increases, I think it’s increased confidence in the local police force in delivering some really good outcomes and supporting those retailers. I would argue that City of London definitely fall in that category. We’ve got a proactive unit that specifically goes to repeat locations, and when they speak to retailers they will report [on their behalf]. They’re proactively finding crime reports. We’re certainly in the top-performing forces in detections for shop theft, and response we give in relation to that. In the last couple of weeks we’ve had three really good Criminal Behaviour Orders [CBOs] of prolific shoplifters, which states they can’t return to the City for about five years. I suspect that is why we’ve seen more of an increase.

Sussex

While Better Retailing was unable to obtain a quote from Sussex PCC Katy Bourne, Holdaway said: “Sussex have a direct reporting system with 24 Co-ops, where they have a crime and it gets reported directly to Sussex [police]. They’re looking at other ways to improve [reporting]. It subsequently means they’ve had a higher number of crimes reported, and many of those do not have any known suspects, but just get recorded anyway.”

Last year, Sussex saw a 42% jump in shoplifting. At the time, Bourne said that from July 2022 to July 2023, Sussex police had implemented “much faster” reporting methods for retail crime – “at the touch of a button, we’ve taken the average time to report crime down from 30 minutes to about two”.

Derbyshire

Derbyshire PCC Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts said that the reasons people are shoplifting are becoming “increasingly more complex”, which has resulted in Derbyshire police needing a “multi-agency approach” as well as an overall effort to reduce the crime and its impact.

She added: “There is no doubt that shoplifting is having a big impact on retailers large and small, and we need to work together on the solutions we need to tackle it. From speaking to small businesses across Derbyshire, many are tired of what feels like an issue that doesn’t seem to be going away. Whilst some have invested in security systems to help, more comprehensive security measures available on the market are not always affordable.

“I am committed to working with the force, businesses, key stakeholders, unions and the Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) to ensure we are all looking at preventative measures and where necessary, improving and strengthening our response to retail crime.”

South Wales

South Wales PPC Emma Wools said that, despite the results, the Retail Crime Action Plan has been seeing “positive” results for the area:

She continued: “I have spoken to retailers and community representatives in recent months to gain a greater understanding of the impact this type of crime has. The Retail Crime Action Plan, launched in October last year, sets out a commitment to tackling shoplifting and prioritising attendance where violence was involved or a shoplifter was detained.

“Within the first month of the plan being launched there was a positive outcome for 287 crimes in Cardiff including charges and cautions. Two-hundred-and-fifty-four of these were in the city centre. This was more than double the volume of the same period the year before so demonstrates the impact of the plan but also underlines the scale of the issue and importance of embedding the benefits over the longer term.

“Latest figures show a rise of 28% in shoplifting offences over the past six months and during the same period the positive outcome rate has doubled compared to last year. The Retail Crime Action Plan sets out clear guidelines for the response to retail crime this has been embedded into operational work.

“Where appropriate retrospective facial recognition is used to identify and bring to justice those caught on CCTV. I am committed to working in partnership to strengthen the response to this priority issue across South Wales.”

British Transport Police

A BTP spokesperson said: “We know how theft can impact businesses and officers use a variety of tactics to tackle crime on the rail network, such as plain clothes officer patrols and the use of thousands of CCTV cameras across the rail network. Officers also work regularly with businesses in stations to prevent crime and encourage reporting. 

“When offenders are caught, we will do everything in our power to bring them to justice and prevent them from offending again through the use of CBO. These orders can prevent offenders from entering railway stations where they are known to offend.” 

Cleveland

Chief inspector Pete Littlewood, Cleveland Police’s operational lead on retail crime, attributed the region’s low shoplifting increase to neighbourhood teams working closely with retailers, with additional efforts made to arrest the top five shoplifters each week.

Littlewood said: “Neighbourhood teams work closely with retailers, encouraging them to report crime when it happens, offering crime prevention advice, and ensuring that we have a clear picture of what is happening through the offer of retail crime forums. 

“Efforts are also made to arrest the top five shoplifters each week, and officers regularly carry out problem solving work to prevent reoffending by making applications for CBOs. The Neighbourhood Teams take part in regular weeks of action to target retail crime, with a visible policing presence in shopping centres and engagement activity with both retailers and shoppers.”

Littlewood added that Cleveland’s charge and detection rate for shoplifting is “above the national average”, with 23.1% of reports ending in a charge to court, compared with 15% nationally.

He added: “Whilst much work remains to be done in dealing with the issue of retail crime, those figures are testament to the work Cleveland Police Officers do to tackle the problem.” 

Staffordshire

Staffordshire’s commissioner for Police, Fire & Rescue and Crime, Ben Adams, who refreshed the local Police & Crime Plan, said: “Business crime is far from ‘victimless’ – it can damage people’s lives and livelihoods, and have a negative impact on our wider communities.

“Shoplifting is a serious issue across the country as a whole but in Staffordshire, although we are not seeing the same level of problems as other areas.

“It is vital that retailers and the police have a good working relationship so they can identify offenders and staff are protected. It’s important that any incidents are reported, and officers will always respond quickly if there’s a threat of violence or assault.”

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