CHRIS PHILP: Shoplifting is not a ‘minor’ crime… I want to see a zero-tolerance approach from police

Shoplifting just isn’t a ‘minor’ or ‘low-level’ crime. That is why I need to see a zero-tolerance method from police.

Theft from retailers – whether or not giant chains or unbiased retailers – is in opposition to the regulation and perpetrators might face a most sentence of seven years. And for good purpose. The results are devastating.

The British Retail Consortium discovered almost £1 billion was misplaced to theft between April 2021 and March 2022. For smaller retailers, even a modest loss can break livelihoods.

However this isn’t only a query of economic losses. If shoplifting is left unchecked, the issue will escalate as perpetrators are emboldened to commit extra crimes. As with many kinds of criminality, offending can escalate – for instance, to violence and abuse.

Assaults in opposition to employees are unacceptable. I say that not simply as Minister for Crime and Policing but in addition as somebody who labored in a grocery store in South London as a young person.

That’s the reason we lately launched more durable sentences for assault in opposition to those that are serving the general public, reflecting the seriousness of assaults in opposition to retail staff. We additionally led a police recruitment drive and now have a file variety of officers in England and Wales, and I’ve acted to cut back bureaucratic burdens positioned on them.

This can release time for officers to do the job they’ve educated for and are good at – frequent sense policing that protects communities and catches criminals.

In keeping with the most recent stats, violent crime is down by 46 per cent since 2010 and neighbourhood crime by 51 %. However we should do extra.

That’s the reason I’ve supported the work of Katy Bourne, Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex, on Undertaking Pegasus, which allows retailers to share data with the police on organised gangs shoplifting throughout the nation.

I additionally need new know-how equivalent to facial recognition used extensively and lawfully. Police ought to all the time search CCTV footage of crime, run it by way of the databases and make an arrest the place they get a face-match.

The general public rightly anticipate these crimes to be adopted up. The dedication from police leaders to all the time observe all affordable strains of inquiry for all crime varieties, together with shoplifting, is critical.

We’re additionally rolling out hotspot patrols to fight anti-social behaviour and shield excessive streets. This began over the summer time in ten areas and in April shall be rolled out throughout all of England and Wales, backed by £42 million of funding.

I’m working carefully with the Nationwide Police Chiefs Council leads, Police and Crime Commissioners and retailers to develop pressing plans to clamp down on shoplifting.

Our message is obvious: there isn’t a such factor as ‘minor’ crime. A zero-tolerance method is required.