In a bid to cut shoplifting, the Retail Crime Action Plan was launched by the previous government last October. Assistant Chief Constable, Alex Goss, National Police Chiefs Council lead for Retail Crime said: 'Police forces have embedded the plan in their operational work and we've already seen positive results and increased retailer confidence.'
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00No one should have to go to work fearing for their safety.
00:05So it's something we really want to see stamped out
00:08and, you know, really clamped down on by the police.
00:10But when it's your own business,
00:12the items on the shelves that are being stolen
00:15are effectively your savings.
00:17And they have to be replaced.
00:19It costs money to replace them.
00:21And these smaller businesses just have not got the reserves,
00:25cash reserves, that is,
00:26to keep replenishing stock that's been stolen.
00:29We see people go into perhaps major supermarkets at times
00:33and empty the shelves of booze or cigarettes
00:36while wielding, you know, machetes.
00:38So large retailers are often targeted
00:41because they have a lot of goods,
00:42because they're a large business.
00:44This new government, in its manifesto,
00:46talked about investing in neighbourhood policing.
00:49We hope that manifests itself
00:51in terms of more police officers being recruited
00:54and allocated to the high streets around the country.
00:57Many people seem to think that, you know,
00:59it's a victimless crime.
01:00It's not.
01:01It pushes up prices for everyone.
01:03It, you know, scares the bejesus out of retail workers,
01:08out of customers.
01:10We've seen how quickly the courts can deal with issues.
01:15We saw that with the horrible riots
01:17and retailers were affected in those riots in the summer.
01:21So, you know, those perpetrators were identified,
01:25taken to court and punishment administered quickly.
01:30And that's what we'd like to see also
01:32when dealing with the people
01:35who always come back into shops almost daily,
01:37stealing to order.
01:38They should be dealt with and addressed with
01:40in an expedient manner.
01:42Otherwise, we're simply going to see this problem
01:44getting worse and worse.
01:46More it's the shoplifting,
01:47more incidents of violence and abuse.
01:50And that simply makes retail less attractive for everyone,
01:52both customers and the people working hard within the shops.