Retail stores not doing enough to tackle shoplifting, says Met chief

Retailers are not doing enough to help police officers catch shoplifters, according to Scotland Yard’s head of business crime.

Following calls by high street giant Marks & Spencer and the British Retail Consortium for the government and police to tackle the rising rate of retail crime, an interview with Chief Inspector Rav Pathania by The Telegraph reveals that there are many challenges.

In four out of five shoplifting cases, vital CCTV footage has not been given to the police, Pathania said. He added that this was frustrating, as when provided, the force had a high rate of apprehending the perpetrators.

He specified that in 80% of cases, when clear images of suspects were made available, officers could identify them with the help of crime databases and facial recognition software.

Yet, Pathania explained that the force didn’t always receive digital evidence from retailers, specifying that in about 80% of incidents reported last year, store managers were unable to provide security camera or body-worn video recordings of suspects.

He acknowledged that this was partly due to the lack of a unified system for sharing such video footage with the police, with each company or store handling the handover of evidence in a different way. Also, access to security footage varied significantly.

He added that staff members were also reluctant to appear in court to give evidence against perpetrators, especially as they do not get compensated by their employers for their time there.

When prompted, Pathania, however, "rejected" suggestions by The Telegraph that his remarks constituted a "blame game" - following mounting criticism from the retail sector that not enough was being done to tackle retail crime.

Pathania explained that the recent rise in shoplifting was due to a "perfect storm" of factors, including the cost-of-living crisis and the fact that after the pandemic, violent crime investigations had been prioritised by the police.

However, he highlighted that the force was now shifting its focus back towards shoplifting and mobile phone theft.

The interview follows an outcry by high street giant Marks & Spencer regarding the increasing pressure theft has been putting on its staff.

The senior boss at Marks & Spencer said employees “worried about coming into work” and claimed its customer-facing staff were being subjected to violence and abuse every day. Last week, one had been taken to the hospital after having ammonia thrown in their face.

Consequently, the retailer urged the Government to do more to tackle retail crime.

In a message on its website, M&S Retail Director Thinus Keeve criticized the Government and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, writing: “Without a government seriously cracking down on crime and a Mayor who prioritises effective policing, we are powerless.”

He had written to Sir Sadiq, while M&S Chief Executive Stuart Machin had written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood calling for more to be done.

Adam Hawksbee, Head of External Affairs at M&S, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "Retail crime has always been a challenge, but it does feel in the past weeks and months that the problem is getting worse."

In March, a survey by the British Retail Consortium showed that more than a fifth of people (21%) witnessed violence or abuse against retail workers in the last year.

Incidents included racial and sexual abuse, physical assault and threats with weapons while shopping.

However, the figure was a slight improvement on the previous year, when 23% of customers witnessed such incidents.

Previous BRC data revealed there were 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers every day last year - the second-highest level on record.

This included 118 incidents involving physical violence and 36 involving a weapon every day.

It said retailers had spent an estimated £5 billion on fighting retail crime over the past five years, including on CCTV, security personnel, anti-theft devices and body-worn cameras.

These costs added to existing financial pressures, limited investment and contributed to higher prices for customers, it warned.

The upcoming Crime and Policing Bill, which will likely be enacted later this year and will remove the £200 threshold for “low-level” theft, is going to send a "clear signal that all shoplifting will be treated seriously”, the BRC added.

However, it said the Bill needed to go further by extending protection to all customer-facing retail workers, including delivery drivers.