‘Don’t just stand there’: Call for the public to do more to stop shoplifting

Multiple reports across Berkshire and the UK as a whole have shown an increase in shoplifting over the past year.

There could be multiple problems, but Matthew Barber, the region’s PCC, thinks it is partly due to inaction by those who could do more, including staff and customers in shops.

Speaking at a Police and Crime Panel today (June 20), he said: “I do get very cross with it.

“I will tell everybody until I'm blue in the face: if you got someone in your store now stealing from you, call 999. Ideally try and stop them leaving. Don't just stand there and watch.

“A lot of people do, which frustrates me.

“If someone just goes and helps themselves to their daily lunch and just walks out, and the staff do nothing to challenge it, the next person in the queue [will think], ‘Well, why am I going to bother to pay for this?’

“If you're not even going to challenge people, you're not going to try and stop them, then people will get away with it."

He included in that people who film others shoplifting and post it online without even challenging the offender verbally.

“If you're the idiot standing there with a mobile phone, you're not doing anything either, are you?” Mr Barber said.

“That's a bigger problem in society and people who do [nothing] are part of the problem. There's definitely a wider need for us all to just stand up [to thieves] a little bit.”

The PCC added that he is ‘perturbed’ by what he sees as a lack of sentencing for shoplifters, saying there is a ‘reasonable expectation of punishment’ for them.

Mr Barber highlighted the case of a suspended sentence handed down to a repeat offender who repeatedly failed to show up at court and broke bail conditions.

“I do wonder why our magistrates are giving [such] people further chances,” he said.

“It's about public confidence in the system and it's about some public protection. If that prolific shoplifter is away for six months, they're not committing offences for six more months.”

One more problem is a common misconception that police will not act unless goods stolen are worth over £200 – which Mr Barber said is ‘nonsense’.

He said that the £200 figure relates to the court route that those offences go through and has ‘nothing to do with police.’

“It doesn't mean the police won't attend. The police will absolutely act,” he said.

Indeed, calling the police is 'really worth doing' as it helps collect data about crime that the police need.

Nonetheless, shopkeepers Mr Barber has spoken to remain under the conviction that police won’t attend for stolen goods worth less than £200.

 “That is clearly not the law,” said Mr Barber. “It's a good idea if we got the word out to more shopkeepers.

“[Anything we can] do to disabuse people of the idea that the police don't care about shoplifting and won't do anything.”

Mr Barber also felt that more could be done by shops in how they arrange their goods and cash to deter crime.

He mentioned shops that put the cash desk ‘right at the back of the shop in a dark corner’ or goods on tables ‘effectively spilling out into the frontage outside.’

“You're not even going to see if something's taken, let alone have a chance to stop it,” he said.

Update, June 26:

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police, said: “Tackling retail crime is a priority for the force and we are committed to working with the public and retail staff to address it.

“Through Op Purchase we have dedicated officers to carry out retail patrols and deterrence and we have dedicated officers that now investigate shoplifting. We are also increasing the number of neighbourhood officers in our cities and town centres.

“Our attendance to shoplifting incidents would always be based on a threat assessment of the incident and would never be based on the monetary value.

“We are continuing to work closely with retail partners as part of the Retail Crime Strategy to investigate and prevent retail crime, with a particular focus on bringing the most persistent offenders to justice.

“We would always encourage shop staff to report crimes in progress and reports of shoplifting to Thames Valley Police so we can respond appropriately and look to follow all reasonable lines of enquiry to investigate.”