Force sets 'ambitious' aim to tackle retail crime

Northamptonshire Police says the rate at which offenders are brought to justice for retail crime was almost 45% last month – up from 15% when its retail crime team was set up in 2023.

Insp Adam Morrow said the rate rose to about 70% when stores provided evidence and "worked with the force".

He added: "I'm never going to be happy until we're 100%, so we've set some really ambitious targets... to improve our outcome rate."

Kevin Legg, the manager of Weston Favell Shopping Centre in Northampton, said more people were shoplifting and a better deterrent was needed.

"I think the cost of living is having a real effect on many people [and] that is really worrying," he said.

"We've probably got 10 times as many cameras in our shopping centre now than we had 10 years ago – not just for shop thefts but for safety as well."

Morrow said detection rates were lower previously because other types of crime had been prioritised.

"I think all forces took their eye off the ball [due to] budget cuts [and] I think forces were forced to make some difficult decisions," he said.

"We were sending out a message that it was acceptable to steal from shops because we wouldn't tackle you.

"We realised that shoplifting isn't a victimless crime. There are people that have been abused, threatened, assaulted every day."

The inspector said shoplifting habits had changed in recent years.

"We see now that offenders [are] being tasked to go into stores with shopping lists," he said.

"We know that where they sell the items is now changing. Previously, many people would sell things door-to-door. We now see that a lot of things have been sold at car boot sales [and] online."

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