Shoplifting ranges ‘unacceptable’, inquiry finds | EUROtoday

Shoplifting is at “unacceptable” ranges and never being tackled correctly, a Lords inquiry has discovered.

The crime is critically underreported and the issue is so pressing police forces must take “immediate action”, in keeping with the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee.

It says retailers want to have the ability to report crimes extra simply, extra funding is required for offender rehabilitation, and rules needs to be launched to make it tougher to promote stolen items on-line anonymously.

The Home Office mentioned it was making assaults on shopworkers a felony offence and deploying “thousands” of law enforcement officials devoted to tackling shoplifting.

The Lords committee held an inquiry into tackling shoplifting wherein it heard proof from police chiefs, retailers and business consultants in May and September.

In a letter printed at this time, it mentioned there have been greater than 443,000 incidents of store theft recorded by police within the 12 months to March 2024 – the best ever since information started 20 years in the past.

But they had been “a drop in the ocean” compared with probably actual figures estimated at 17 million yearly – which has “devastating consequences for businesses and families”.

Shop theft has developed from “individualised offending to relentless, large-scale, organised operations accompanied by unprecedented levels of violence”, it added.

Tracey Robertson, co-owner of Paw Prints – a small chain of pet retailers throughout Yorkshire – says shoplifting prices her enterprise round £8,000 a 12 months.

“It’s a financial impact on a family business. It’s bad in the fact that it affects the staff that work for us because sometimes it’s aggressive and violent,” she mentioned.

The committee supported schemes like Project Pegasus – a partnership between retailers and police to sort out organised shoplifting gangs – however mentioned there must be a technique to cope with native prolific offenders too.

“The scale of the shop theft problem within England and Wales is totally unacceptable and action, like that under way in the Pegasus scheme, is vital and urgent,” mentioned Lord Foster of Bath, chair of the committee.

The committee discovered there’s a widespread notion that store theft isn’t handled critically by the police which “risks undermining confidence in the police and wider criminal justice system”.

It mentioned shoplifting price the retail sector almost £2bn final 12 months – which resulted in value rises impacting people, households and communities.

“We acknowledge the pressures on police resources, but we believe that the urgency of the situation relating to shop theft requires immediate action within existing police staffing levels,” the letter mentioned.

It has made a sequence of suggestions to the federal government which it says would “help tackle the problem and keep the public and our economy safer”.

These embody:

• Phasing out using the outdated time period “shoplifting” which serves to trivialise the severity of the offence
• Developing improved reporting methods to allow retailers to report crime to the police shortly and simply
• Increasing funding to community-based reoffending and rehabilitation initiatives
• Introducing rules to make it tougher to promote stolen items on on-line marketplaces anonymously
• Introducing rules and greatest apply steering for using facial recognition know-how by personal firms

Shop proprietor Tracey Robertson believes the suggestions don’t go far sufficient and needs to see a lot more durable sentences for repeat offenders.

Professor of criminology Emmeline Taylor, who gave proof to the inquiry, mentioned the committee suggestions are “far-reaching” and perceive the a number of root causes of store theft.

“If adopted by the police, the industry and the government it will certainly do a huge amount to begin to turn the tide on the tsunamic of shop theft that has impacted the retail sector across the UK.”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) mentioned it welcomed the report which additional highlights the numerous affect retail crime has on its victims.

“We are doing all we can to reduce thefts and pursue offenders, especially those prolific and habitual offenders, who cause misery within the community,” mentioned Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, the NPCC’s lead for acquisitive crime.

The Home Office mentioned it understands the “devastating impact” of store theft has on communities.

A spokesperson added: “We are taking immediate action through our commitment to scrap the £200 shop theft threshold, and making assaults on shop workers a criminal offence.

“We can even put 1000’s extra devoted law enforcement officials on our streets, and set up a Retail Crime Forum for retailers to confidently implement techniques towards store theft.”