19 January 2024 , 19:38
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A fed up supermarket boss has taken to naming and shaming shoplifters on social media.
Danny Khan runs Mr Khan’s Authentic Jamaican Food Store with his dad in Winson Green, Birmingham. But the 34-year-old has seen a recent surge in crime at his shop but claims police failed to act. Instead, he has taken matters into his own hands and began naming and shaming the alleged crooks by posting them on TikTok and Instagram.
Danny has publicly shamed around 20 suspected crooks after he introduced the idea a year ago. He claims his unique method has been so effective that some crooks have been returning to the scene of the crime to apologise and cough up what they owe. The videos, shared on social media, have been viewed millions of times and Danny reckons they’ve proved an “effective deterrent”.
He said: "We just became so fed-up of the amount of shoplifting going on and police failing to act that we thought we'd turn to social media. We thought 'enough’s enough'. If we catch you stealing we'll put you on TikTok and Instagram and we have a big following so it’s doing the job. The result has been a drop in incidents because people know if they rob from here they are going straight on social media.
"Less and less stock is going missing. A couple of videos have had over a million views. It's gone crazy to be honest. Now our customers have a laugh with us about it when they come in saying 'Look, watch I’m paying for this because I don’t want to end up on social media'.
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"We've had four or five come back and say 'we're really sorry, please will you take the video down' and pay for what they owe. My deal is if you come back, pay us and apologise, then I'll take the video down, it's simple. Once people get named and shamed they don’t do it again."
The supermarket in Winson Green, Birmingham (Danny Khan / SWNS)Danny - who has installed more than 40 CCTV cameras in his shop - said he will carry on posting videos until police take action. There has been a 100 per cent increase in the theft of food in the West Midlands during the cost-of-living crisis - with 3,138 products recorded stolen by West Midlands Police last year.
Danny added: "It just skyrocketed after Covid. We knew we had to do something because the police are just not interested. Every time we reported it no-one ever comes. They just say its petty crime, but when its happening on a massive scale I wouldn't call that petty.
One of the alleged shoplifters caught on CCTV by Danny (Danny Khan / SWNS)
Danny shares footage of the alleged shoplifters on social media (Danny Khan / SWNS)"We have been part of the community here for 35 years and most of our customers are brilliant- but there's a few bad eggs out there. We get everyone from druggies to really well-dressed people stealing. We even had an old lady the other day. We know times are difficult and we donate produce to charity and to foodbanks - we want to help people where we can.
"Our customers are like family so if people are going through hard times they can tell us and we often help them out. But we work hard to keep this business going and people can't get away with stealing from us. We are now talking to other businesses to have a page for the whole area where other shopkeepers can do the same.
Danny says the new tactic is working after police, he claimed, failed to act (Danny Khan / SWNS)"Because if they don't steal from here, they will just go to the next shop. With police doing nothing to help we're taking matters into our own hands."
A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: "We fully understand the impact and frustration of shoplifting on businesses of all sizes. It's a crime which can affect livelihoods. We're committed to reducing shop thefts and carry out regular high visibility patrols in retail areas, along with activity to identify and catch offenders."