Independent retailers must not be left behind by major supermarket-funded anti-retail-crime initiatives, MP and retail crime campaigner Steve McCabe has warned.

At the retail crime All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) meeting on 17 January, representa­tives from police forces, major retailers and politi­cal parties praised data-sharing plans designed to catch shoplifters. These include ‘Pro­ject Pegasus’, which allows selected retailers and police to share data on suspected criminals. Meanwhile, ‘One Touch Reporting’ in Brighton simplifies Co-op’s ability to report crime, and the police’s ability to rapidly respond to these reports.

However, these exam­ples and many others are not available to inde­pendent shops. While some attendees claimed arresting more suspects was good for all shops, local shop owners have previously expressed concerns around retail crime being pushed into less-protected sites.

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Need to share

Addressing politicians, senior police figures and retailers at the event, Mc­Cabe, the APPG’s chair, said: “Independent traders have a different funding base and differ­ent options [compared with major retailers]. We really need to push for better data, better use, better analysis of what’s already there. There are a lot of really good things happening in the UK and they don’t get shared.”

Also at the meeting, at­tended by Better Retailing, was Labour’s shadow police minister, Alex Norris. He added that the “extraordinary foot­print” of big chains and trade groups gave them the unique ability to de­termine which measures are most successful in combating retail crime. However, Norris added technology and data cannot make up for chal­lenges in policing.

“The developments around tech are great extras,” Norris said. “but the mundane fact is it’s about police response.”

In this area, the shad­ow minister said there was cause for alarm. He described hold­ing “concerns about the deliverability” of the Retail Crime Action Plan launched last year. The plan saw police forces pledge to investigate every lead and to prioritise attend­ance at retail crime inci­dents involving violence.

Retail Crime Action plan

Patrick Holdaway, from the National Business Crime Centre, was involved in writing the Retail Crime Action Plan. He pointed out that 55% of retail crimes are closed because there is no known suspect. A further 13% because the retailer did not want to go forward.

“If we get reports of the crime and there’s no evidence, I don’t think the public would expect us to investigate,” Holda­way said. “You have to find the most appropriate method for retailers to report.”

He added that police should question “what value” they would be adding by attending crime scenes.

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