Police officers sent to investigate only one in five shoplifting offences

28 January 2024 , 15:24

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The police are failing to attend robberies from shops (Image: Getty Images)

The police are failing to send officers to investigate more than four fifths of shoplifting offences in some areas, it has been warned.

Figures from six forces show the proportion of incidents where an officer attends has fallen from 36% in 2019 to 19.7% last year. Leicestershire was the worst performing area, according to the data obtained by the Telegraph. Officers were sent to investigate just 11.6% of offences.

That compared with 26.9% in Merseyside, 13.6% in North Wales, 17.7% in South Yorkshire and 26.3% in Staffordshire. Durham recorded the biggest fall from 77.9% in 2019 to 22.2% last year.

National crime data published last week showed shoplifting offences have risen by more than 30 per cent in a year to a record 1,300 a day, but only one in seven are being solved.

The Mirror is demanding urgent action to tackle the epidemic of shoplifting that is sweeping Britain's high streets. We believe police must investigate all shoplifting incidents and want to reverse Tory laws that downgraded the theft of goods worth less than £200 to a minor offence.

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Our campaign is also calling for more PCSOs so they can patrol our high streets. The number has fallen from 16,814 in 2009 to 8,263. Other demands include addressing the underlying causes of shoplifting by tackling the cost of living crisis and providing more support for people with addiction and poor mental health.

Shopkeepers and retail bosses have been calling for the police and the courts to do more to protect staff and bring prosecutions after almost nine in 10 convenience store staff said thieves had verbally abused them. Shoplifting is estimated to cost retailers almost £1billion a year.

The British Retail Consortium said there were around eight million incidents in the 12 months to March. Police recorded 339,206 cases, with just 48,218 of these incidents resulting in charges. Workers say some crooks pull items from shelves in front of them and return to steal more, as they believe they can get away with it.

Shoplifting does not automatically lead to jail time. If the goods are worth less than £200, the maximum sentence is six months in prison but this is usually handled by issuing a postal fine of £70. Stealing items valued at £200 or more can lead to a maximum sentence of seven years.

Keir Starmer has said that if he gets into power he will bring back local patrols with 13,000 extra officers and PCSOs. Labour has pledged that stronger sentences will be given to repeat offenders to make it clear that shoplifting is not a low-level crime and will not be tolerated. The party is committed to reviewing the effectiveness of current legislation and sentencing policy for assaults on frontline workers.

John Stevens