Shoplifting Surge 'Not Taken Seriously'

Police forces are being accused of not doing enough to tackle a boom in shoplifting.

A survey shows a 36% rise in the money lost in shop thefts, the highest figure for a decade.

But most shoplifting goes unreported because shopkeepers do not believe the police will respond, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

It said: "Despite the high level of theft, and evidence that some retailers are adopting more consistent "no exception" policies to reporting offences to the police, the majority of customer theft remains unreported.

"This is an indication that businesses continue to lack confidence in the police response to customer theft.

"The perception remains that some quarters of law enforcement view theft as a 'victimless' crime which is not taken seriously."

Toy shop owner Steve Mohabir, who runs The Toy Box in Godalming, Surrey, said he faced increasing thefts but found police were rarely willing to arrest suspects.

He said: "To be totally honest I'm really furious.

"I pay a high business rate, but I don't get the police service I need, no local bobby keeping an eye on retailers and our problems.

"If I report shoplifting I get told 'it's not very much' and nothing is done about it, but if it's an armed robbery at the bank they are much more interested."

Mr Mohabir said he has had to resort to investing in an expensive CCTV system and then shaming shoplifters by putting their images on his Facebook page.

The BRC's 2014 retail crime survey put the annual cost of all crime at £603m, an increase of 18%, with a total of three million crimes.

As well as the increase in shoplifting, fraud rose by 12% - more than half committed by organised gangs - and cyber crime also went up.

However, robbery, burglary and criminal damage fell.

The BRC's Director General, Helen Dickinson, said: "In my foreword to last year's report I said that a step change improvement in the law enforcement response to fraud was a desperately needed reform. A year on, this remains the case.

"Although there remains at times a lack of confidence among retailers about the service they receive from police and the criminal justice system, businesses are keen to work with partners to reduce retail crime."

Deputy Chief Constable Sue Fish, the National Policing Lead for Retail Crime, said: "Police have been working closely with businesses and retailers for several years, including British Retail Consortium, to help them prevent theft whether from stores or online.

"Stores need to ensure that they have the right security and working practices in place and heed advice to prevent them from being targeted.

"Without retailers making these changes, police will not be able to work in partnership to reduce this type of crime.

"Retailers need to report crimes against them to us so that we can investigate and ensure we have a full picture of offending; our ability to help is undermined if we aren't receiving information about crimes committed."