Shoplifting surges to highest levels since records began

Shoplifting successful England and Wales has surged to an all-time high, with astir fractional a cardinal cases reported implicit the past 12 months.

A full of 492,914 offences were logged by constabulary successful the twelvemonth to September 2024, up 23% from 402,220 successful the erstwhile year.

The fig is the highest since existent records began successful the twelvemonth to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It comes aft shoplifting levels had already reached a 20-year precocious past year, with the latest figures showing the crime continues to beryllium connected the rise.

Police recorded 1.8 cardinal theft offences successful the twelvemonth to September, a 2% summation driven by shoplifting and a 22% emergence successful crimes involving theft from a idiosyncratic (146,109), according to the information published connected Thursday.

Of the 473,342 police-recorded shoplifting offences implicit the past year, lone 19% resulted successful a tribunal summons, Home Office information shows.

It comes amid warnings that shoplifting is ‘spiralling retired of control’ aft a survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) suggested determination were much than 2,000 incidents a day, with unit facing assault, being threatened with weapons, and radical and intersexual abuse.

Major retailers person been raising concerns for months astir the accrued outgo of theft portion the Government has vowed to tackle low-level shoplifting and marque assaulting a store idiosyncratic a circumstantial transgression offence.

The determination to make the abstracted offence follows a long-running run by concern owners and Conservative backbencher Matt Vickers.

Retailers said they anticipation the measures acceptable retired successful the King’s Speech to Parliament past twelvemonth aft Labour won the predetermination volition marque it easier for constabulary to analyse and prosecute criminals.

Policing curate Dame Diana Johnson said the figures ‘remain unacceptably high’ and the crimes were ‘blighting municipality centres and precocious streets close crossed the country’.

‘For acold excessively agelong these crimes person been written disconnected arsenic “low-level” and not treated with the urgency oregon seriousness they deserve’, she said arsenic she insisted the Government was ‘determined to crook the page’ with its program to boost constabulary numbers and springiness officers the powers they request to ‘crack down connected the criminals who origin misery successful our communities’.

Overall, constabulary recorded 6.66 cardinal crimes successful England and Wales successful the 12 months to September, a precise flimsy driblet (down 0.4%) connected the erstwhile year’s full of 6.69 million.

This is up from 4.03 cardinal a decennary earlier successful 2013/14, but reflects ‘changes successful constabulary enactment and signaling practices’ arsenic good arsenic genuine changes successful trends successful crimes reported to and recorded by forces, and ‘should not beryllium utilized to accidental that wide transgression has increased’, the ONS said.

Home Office figures published astatine the aforesaid clip amusement the proportionality of investigations into crimes recorded by constabulary successful the latest play which were closed with nary fishy identified stood astatine 39.8%, compared with 40.3% successful the erstwhile year.

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