Businesses should do extra to cease shoplifting, Met Police chief says

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has urged stores to do more to help officers bring shoplifters to justice. 

Sir Mark Rowley claimed there was evidence of security staff working with gangs to help them steal from shops, as some refused to hand over CCTV or snaps of thugs caught red-handed.

He alleged other stores would not allow employees time off to attend court or to provide statements to the police. 

In the year to June, retail crime increased by 13 per cent, reaching 529,994 recorded offences, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) estimated there were 20 million cases of shoplifting, implying less than three per cent of thefts were reported. 

It comes as Labour were accused of turning Britain into a ‘soft touch for criminals’ as shoplifters continued to run rampant across the country. 

And while Sir Mark maintained retailers were right in their criticism of the police, he also insisted they also ‘need to step up more’. 

‘The retail sector, a couple of years ago, was right to be cross with policing across the country,’ he told The Telegraph.

Sir Mark Rowley (pictured) claimed there was evidence of security staff working with gangs to help them steal from shops

‘But in London, over the last year or so, we’ve really doubled down on it. We’re making a lot of progress, but I need to challenge back now to the retail sector. 

‘They now need to do better.’

Shoplifting dropped by four per cent between April and December, the Police Commissioner claimed, with the help of facial recognition technology.  

Sir Mark, a long supporter of the technology, said that in 40 per cent of incidents, the force was able to identify a criminal against databases of previous offenders.

Fines, charges and sanctions for shoplifting also rose by 82 per cent. However, the Met had the lowest rate of crimes being solved in England and Wales.

In the year to June, just nine per cent of shoplifting cases ended in a charge by the police authority. 

In one case, private security staff had been communicating with criminals and telling them when it was ‘clear’ to come in, Sir Mark revealed.

He also noted that while some stores cited costs as why they couldn’t provide statements or images, other shops were ‘very supportive’ of employees.  

Cambridgeshire Police released CCTV footage of thieves targeting the John Lewis department store in Cambridge earlier this month, amid growing concern over retail crime

The Police Commissioner explained that some shops will give staff the time and pay to attend court and provide statements, while others do not.  

‘So if they’re not prepared to roll up their sleeves as corporate victims, it’s going to be tough for us to make progress,’ he added.

Sir Mark also voiced his support for expanding facial technology, which means police would have access to the passport database.

Such access would mean they would be able to use 45 million photos to identify those suspected of committing serious crimes.  

He has also supported radical proposals to reduce the number of policing authorities from 43 to 20 – or even less – as well as reforming the ‘broken’ court system.