UK shoplifting on the rise and extra brazen, new survey says | EUROtoday

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Cherry Wilson & Jim Connolly

BBC News Investigations

Watch the second shoplifters focused a telephone store in central London, December 2024

Retail crime is “out of control” and shoplifters are finishing up more and more brazen and violent acts of theft as a result of they don’t worry any penalties, an business physique has instructed the BBC.

In some circumstances, offenders are overtly clearing cabinets of things in full view of shoppers and store employees – a tactic typically often called “kamikaze” shoplifting.

In the 12 months to September final yr, incidents of buyer theft reported by retailers within the UK rose by 3.7 million to twenty.4 million, and price retailers £2bn.

The figures have been revealed on Thursday within the annual crime survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents greater than 200 main retailers.

According to the BRC, violence and abuse in opposition to shopworkers additionally rose by 50%, with greater than 2,000 such incidents recorded on common per day.

It says its survey was primarily based on a pattern of shops representing over 1.1 million workers and a market turnover of greater than £194bn.

Separate figures revealed by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday revealed shoplifting offences reported by police in England and Wales rose by 23% to greater than 492,000 over the identical interval.

That is the best determine since present recording practices started in 2003.

However Tom Holder, spokesperson for the BRC, mentioned the extent of the issue is “very, very much underestimated by the ONS”, as a result of it solely captures crime reported by police.

“If their statistics were true, there’d only be about one and a half incidents per year per shop, and if you ask any shopkeeper they’ll tell you they’re lucky if a day goes by where there hasn’t been a shoplifting incident.”

In one “kamikaze” incident final month at a telephone retailer in London’s Oxford Street, two males spent minutes kicking down a telephone stand in entrance of shoppers and store employees.

It is believed the telephone stand contained dummy telephones which may then have been offered on-line to unsuspecting clients, tricked into believing they have been shopping for the actual factor.

The Metropolitan Police mentioned officers responded to the incident and carried out a search of the realm. They have been unable to find the suspects, even though they have been captured on video. An investigation has since been launched.

A head and shoulders shot of Helen Dickinson looking straight at the camera. She is standing outside on a dull winter day, wearing a grey coat and a large grey scarf.

Helen Dickinson of the BRC: Shop crime is “outrageous and out of control in many parts of the country”

Shoplifting is usually pushed by organised gangs and prolific offenders stealing to order, based on Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief government.

She mentioned offenders have been turning into extra daring as a result of “they don’t see that there’s necessarily any consequences”.

“It’s outrageous and out of control in many parts of the country.”

Social media is stuffed with movies of shoplifting, typically in entrance of store employees and safety officers who don’t seem to step in.

Ms Dickinson mentioned store employees are sometimes suggested to not intervene as a result of they run a danger of being attacked.

Andrew Goodacre, CEO of the British Independent Retailers Association, mentioned he was “not surprised” by the figures.

“The harsh reality of this is this is only the tip of the iceberg. We’ve been encouraging our members to report the incidents but a lot of them just don’t bother reporting because historically they’ve had no response.

“So there’s nonetheless an enormous hole between the crimes being dedicated and the report back to the police.”

More shoplifting coverage by Jim and Cherry

Shop owner Amit Puntambekar said he was punched in the face by a young woman he suspected of stealing £75 worth of vapes from his Cambridgeshire store earlier this year.

He believes the number of violent incidents has worsened over the past three years and has made him consider quitting the business, which has been in his family for nearly 40 years.

“I do not need to die at work,” he said. “When your employees are threatened with a hammer, when somebody threatens to kill you who lives close to your store and the police do not take it critically, what is the level?”

Criminals know the legislation is mushy on shoplifting, Mr Puntambekar believes, so suspects are finishing up crimes in plain sight.

Cambridgeshire Police mentioned a 17-year-old lady has been charged with widespread assault and theft from a store following the incident and can seem in courtroom on 5 February.

Amit Puntambekar faces the camera, wearing a green quilted jacket, in front of a store display of vapes. He has a plaster under his left eye where he was punched.

Amit Puntambekar was punched within the face at his retailer by a suspected shoplifter

Facilities administration agency Mitie provides 10,000 safety guards to the UK retail sector. It mentioned 10% of those have been injured within the line of obligation in 2024.

According to its safety director, Jason Towse, shoplifters have change into extra fearless as a result of police sources have change into extra targeted on “high-profile” crime.

“The main issue for why people are using that ‘kamikaze’ approach is to scare colleagues and scare the staff,” he mentioned. “They also know that the response from the police is not what it used to be.”

Security guards shouldn’t have extra powers than different residents to apprehend shoplifters. But Mr Towse says they’re educated in how finest to establish and reply to points. They can even act as a visual deterrent and share information and proof with the police.

We requested 10 main retailers what their employees insurance policies have been for coping with shoplifters finishing up violent or aggressive theft.

Several mentioned the security of employees and clients was a precedence, and added that they’d invested in safety measures together with CCTV, body-worn cameras, and a rise in safety guards.

Shoplifting provides £133 to the price of a median UK family’s procuring invoice annually, based on the Centre for Retail Research.

In 2023, the federal government launched a scheme that set out steerage for police on tackling the difficulty – together with prioritising attending violent incidents or the place an offender has been caught.

Project Pegasus – an intelligence-sharing partnership between retailers and policing – was additionally set as much as deal with tackling shoplifting gangs and prolific offenders.

Tesco employees defend doorways as shoplifters attempt to break in

In response to the BRC survey, Home Office Minister Dame Diana Johnson has known as the rise in store crime “utterly unacceptable”.

She has additionally repeated a authorities pledge to usher in a brand new particular offence for assaulting retail employees – one thing the retail business has been calling for since 2020.

It would assist make clear the scale of the issue and permit statistics to be collected, says the BRC.

Helen Dickinson says the newest report ranges of shoplifting ought to function a “wake-up call” to the federal government and the police.

“The fear of consequence is just not there and I think that’s why we need to see more resources and more focus by the police,” she says.

Jason Towse says there may be extra work to do however thinks that steps being taken throughout the business are beginning to result in outcomes.

“Ultimately when shoplifters start to see the levels of consequence more and more than we’re seeing today… that will really change the tide.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp82jvd3g54o