Dame Diana Johnson blamed declining officer numbers below the earlier authorities but additionally mentioned she wished to “see shop theft treated seriously…and the police need to play their part”.
Simply 22% of shoplifting incidents had been attended to right away by police in 2023, primarily based on responses from 22 of England’s 39 police forces.
In 2016, information from 17 forces gave an attendance fee of 52% – greater than twice the 2023 determine.
Whereas in 2013, figures from 11 forces steered an attendance fee of 72% – greater than 3 times greater than a decade later.
Taking a look at simply the 2013 and 2016 information units, a transparent pattern of declining attendance charges is seen.
Among the police forces who responded to our request mentioned this was due to fashionable extra distant investigation strategies.
Others mentioned that whereas officers might not at all times attend crime scenes instantly, they are going to typically comply with up at a later date if there are credible strains of enquiry.
Nevertheless, retailer house owners and staff have complained {that a} lack of police consideration in direction of retail crime has created an environment the place criminals imagine they’ll steal with few repercussions.
Earlier this yr the British Retail Consortium mentioned violence and abuse towards retail staff had risen considerably to 1,300 per day in 2022/23.
The thieves steal scratch playing cards and spirits and try and assault a cashier, who fights again with what seems to be a spanner.
One other London retailer proprietor mentioned he used to maintain a baseball bat and pepper spray behind his counter, however was informed to take away them by police.
“We can’t stop them, hold them or anything… shopkeepers are so vulnerable at the moment,” mentioned Dennis Mariyaesan.
He additionally accused the police of not attending store theft incidents and never taking the crime critically sufficient.
Commander Owain Richards from the Metropolitan Police mentioned: “Our call handlers will assess each and every report and make an assessment based on available lines of enquiry.”
A retail crime motion plan was revealed by the Nationwide Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) final yr prioritising attendance to incidents the place violence was concerned or the place an offender had been detained.
Nevertheless, ranges of store theft have elevated dramatically in recent times resulting in strain on police sources.
A spokesperson for the NPCC mentioned: “We have made significant strides in our fight against retail crime, strengthening relationships with retailers and greatly improving information sharing which has resulted in a number of high harm offenders being brought to justice.”
She additionally pointed to declines in officer numbers as a doable cause for the drop in attendance charges.
The police headcount fell by round 20,000 between 2010 and 2017 earlier than rising once more by 25,000 by 2023 amid a recruitment push launched below Boris Johnson.
The Labour authorities has pledged a further 13,000 further neighbourhood officers by 2029.
Sir Keir Starmer has additionally promised a “named, contactable police officer” in each neighbourhood and an axing of the 2014 legislation meaning “low value” thefts of below £200 are topic to much less critical punishments.
