Police must act to end £2.2bn shoplifting epidemic now

Britain's shoplifting epidemic is being driven by a "perfect storm" of factors driving thieves from all walks of life to plunder hundreds of millions of pounds worth of goods from shop shelves every month. Serious organised crime gangs - from both home and abroad - are carrying out military-style missions, whilst there has been a sharp rise of "opportunistic stealing" with even middle-class professionals and once trusty-worthy pensioners stealing as they struggle to combat a cost of living crisis.

Meanwhile vulnerable children are being exploited in ruthless fashion by hardened criminals whilst there is also an explosion of people stealing and abusing shop staff for videos to be posted on social media site's such as Snapchat and TikTok. In response the Daily Express today demands action to halt the shoplifting crisis that is costing stores more than £2.2billion a year. The target of our new campaign - that police must attend every reported theft - is the one move that store bosses say would stop the epidemic, catch more crooks and provide reassurance to owners and staff.

The Express crusade insists that police and politicians alike "Stop The Shoplifters".

With shop prices pushed higher by the cost of extra security, Lucy Whing - anticrime policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium trade group - warned last night: "Something has got to change. Retailers have spent £1.8billion on security measures last year and the Government has promised more resources to tackle the issue. The missing piece of the puzzle is a commitment from police forces to attend all incidents reported, particularly when violence is involved."

Retailers think the Government's £200million neighbourhood policing plan and moves to make assaulting a shopworker a stand-alone offence will help - but admit their trust in many forces is broken.

Shoplifting offences recorded in England and Wales last year topped 500,000 for the first time, with 530,643 offences logged - a 20% rise on the previous 12 months and the most since current recording practices began in 2002-2003.

Meanwhile more than one in 10 retail staff have been threatened with weapons in the past year as shoplifting turns increasingly violent.

Kevin Burton of Kingdom Security which works with hundreds of stores, including Morrisons and Marks & Spencer, claims that ruthless Eastern European crooks target the UK.

Mr Burton said: "We really do find ourselves in a perfect storm situation where we have serious organised crime gangs operating on a huge scale - both home-grown and from overseas - along with people from all kinds of backgrounds stealing for a variety of reasons."

Some gangs are known to raid dozens of stores in one day.

Mr Burton said: "Let's say they leave from somewhere in Kent, jump in a van and drive up the East Coast of the country, hitting multiple stores in a single day. Their route then goes across to the Midlands and then back down south on the M6 to the M25 and they basically do a big loop, getting home with sometimes £15,000 worth of stolen stock."

Champagne is a favourite hit for Eastern European gangs but British mobs also steal vodka, whisky, rum, tea and coffee that they sell for cash at around 50% of the shop prices on housing estates, in pubs - and online. Mr Burton added: "They generally operate in groups of two and three. There are storm-in gangs who operate predominantly in London, where they just race into a store and fill bags galore and go.

"But we've also got others, like one currently operating in the North East who work in a group of two or three. One goes in first with a basket...he's kind of a spotter to see where staff and security guards are.

"Then the others walk in with two bags in a trolley, as if they're going to do a full shop. But they will instead go straight down to the alcohol aisles and fill the trolley with 50 or 60 bottles.

"The bags are on top and they will then wait for somebody else to walk out beside them - usually a little old lady or someone honest - who instantly thinks it's them that's sparked the alarm and so they stop and wait for the guard whilst the gang keep walking at pace. They load straight into a car and are away."

But it is not just organised gangs who are driving the dramatic rise in thefts - socio-economic reasons are also fuelling the crisis.

Mr Burton explained: "We have found a new trend of more and more opportunistic theft from people who are working full-time but who are perhaps struggling with the cost-of living crisis.

"They just can't afford to get the main kind of groceries they used to as prices increase. Household budgets are having to tighten...we're finding a lot more first-time offenders.

"People who we would never, ever have looked at previously in the past and thought, 'You know what, we need to keep an eye on that kind of range of shopper'. The security expert says pensioners are also increasingly light fingered. Mr Burton said: "We've quite a lot of older people as well, older generation 'skip scanning'...where they'll be buying a number of items but just miss a few from the scanner."

He said self-service tills are monitored by CCTV while weight scales help combat some aspects of the scourge - but shoppers find ways to beat the system.

Mr Burton added: "There is definitely increased opportunity through self-scan checkouts. Stores try to have staff around and guards placed nearby, and we have found personal engagement reduces this type of offending by 30%.

"But it is hard because thieves will claim human error, and because they have not been caught before they come up as first-time try to have staff around and guards placed nearby, and we have found personal engagement reduces this type of offending by 30%.

"But it is hard because thieves will claim human error, and because they have not been caught before they come up as first-time offenders which means police are not going to prosecute.

"If [officers] do attend then it is generally just a flea in the ear and off you go with a 'Don't do it again' warning.

"However, police attendance at all incidents would definitely be a big deterrent." This year it was announced forces would be recruiting 3,000 extra neighbourhood police and community support officers over the next 12 months.

Previous legislation that made stealing goods worth less than £200 a summary offence has also been axed, meaning tougher sentences could soon be passed. But workers on the retail frontline say that unless police vow to respond to every single incident the problem will continue to worsen.

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said the neighbourhood policing plan would "reverse the Tories' decade of decline".

But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said law and order was "taking a back seat under Labour.

"They must urgently get a grip to ensure our police have the resources they need to cut crime and keep the British people safe.

Actions have consequences. But, perhaps, not for thieves.

Ever since the pandemic, retail theft has been spiralling out of control. Our most recent

crime survey showed that there were over 20 million incidents of theft in 2024, which

was the highest on record.

This added up to a massive £2.2 billion cost, not only retailers, but also their customers.

Retail theft pushes up the costs for honest shoppers and ruins the customer

experience for everyone.

What is far worse though, is the link between theft and violence. Confronting thieves is

a major trigger of violence and abuse. And as retail theft has escalated at such an

alarming rate, so too have incidents of violence. Part of the blame can be linked to a rise

in organised crime, with increasingly aggressive, balaclava wearing gangs

systematically going from store to store all over the country, often stealing to order.

But are we even that surprised that shoplifters continue to commit their crimes so

brazenly, and so undeterred? When police often do not turn up after the event, let

alone during, criminals are practically given a licence to steal.

Trust between retailers and local police is breaking down. Three in five retailers

describe the police response to incidents as "poor" or "very poor." Retailers often don't

see the point of even reporting incidents to the police, knowing it will create an

administrative burden with little benefit. The result is the police statistics dramatically

understate the true level of retail crime.

Without a new approach, there is little reason to believe the situation will improve.

Something has got to change. Retailers have spent £1.8 billion on security measures,

last year, and the government has promised more resources to tackle the issue.

The missing piece of the puzzle is a commitment from police forces to attend all

incidents reported, particularly when violence is involved. To rebuild the trust between

retailers and police. To create community policing which applies to local businesses as

well as local residents.