Just 104 people commit one third of all shoplifting in London
Key Points
- New data from the Met reveals that one third of all shoplifting offences recorded in London last year were committed by just 104 people.
- Each of these offenders were sentenced after only a minimum of 31 offences, and 97% continued to shoplift while they were going through the court process.
- The Met has banded together with retailers to urge the government to crackdown on repeat offenders, reforming the justice system to deal with them in 72 hours.
- Despite the problem with repeat offenders, the Met is making progress in reducing shoplifting across London and charging more offenders.
Almost one third of all shoplifting offences recorded in London last year were committed by just 104 individuals, according to new data from the Metropolitan Police.
The Met and retailers banded together to draft a letter to government calling for a crackdown on repeat offenders and stronger enforcement of court orders.
According to the data, 4,389 shoplifting offences over the last two financial years where a suspect was identified were committed by just 104 people. Each of the offenders were only given a custodial sentence after a minimum of 31 offences, the Met noted.
Of the 104 prolific shoplifters identified, 97% continued to shoplift while they were progressing through the criminal justice system.
Together with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the Retail Trust, the Met has written to government, urging for further reforms to prevent offenders from cycling through the system and repeatedly offending.
The organisations have called for court process to be fast-tracked, so that prolific shoplifters are brought before courts within 72 hours of being charged.
They have also urged for court orders to be more consistently enforced and for repeat offenders to face a clearer escalation framework for breaching Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBO).
Beyond the issues with repeat offenders, the Met has highlighted the progress it has made in cracking down on retail theft generally.
It said that last year, shoplifting fell by 3.7% across London and it made almost 50% more arrests. The rate at which offenders were charged or cautioned for retail crime also rose by 123% in the latest financial year.
This crackdown is partly aided by the adoption of Retrospective Facial Recognition, which identifies unknown shoplifters 80.5% of the time.
“Working hand-in-hand with retailers and sharing evidence has been crucial in building strong cases and securing charges,” said Met Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist.
“Where underreporting remains, we are working with business to ensure incidents are reported to bring those offenders to justice.”
“Whilst we recognise the £5 million from government to disrupt organised retail crime, we are still seeing the same individuals come back again and again – that shows the system needs to change,” he said.
“That’s why we are calling on the Home Office and Ministry of Justice to take action, and we stand ready to help break this cycle for good.”
