Essex Police last week (Sept 18) stated that the force made more than 2,800 arrests for shop theft solved 67 per cent more offences across Essex in the past two years, providing some relief to the convenience stores and other retail premises in the region.
The police claimed that business crime officers provide specialist tactical advice to those officers in neighbourhood policing and local policing teams across our county who make the bulk of arrests for shop theft, plus associated assaults and anti-social behaviour, and carry out the investigations.
The Business Crime Team also work closely with retailers, providing expert advice on how to help keep their staff, stock and stores safe and secure.
Between 14 September 2023 and 13 September 2025, our response officers and neighbourhood policing officers made 2,829 arrests for shop theft. That's 118 a month.
And they solved 1,627 more shoplifting offences in the 12 months to 31 August 2025, compared with the year to 31 August 2023.
Many of those people arrested will have been charged and then appeared in court the following day with no choice but to plead guilty to their crimes, because of the strength of the evidence against them.
Sergeant Christian Denning, who heads up our Business Crime Team, says, "We know that, nationally, the number of shop thefts is increasing, and Essex is not immune from this.
“We take shoplifting seriously because we know how it affects store staff, customers and the businesses themselves. With the current economic challenges, retailers simply cannot afford significant losses due to theft.
“Through our Open For Business, Closed For Crime campaign, we encourage retailers to tell us about incidents of shop theft, assaults on staff and related anti-social behaviour.
“This information allows us to identify emerging retail crime trends and to adapt our crime prevention advice to tackle them.
“And their witness statements, coupled with good quality CCTV footage, help us to secure convictions and banning orders at court."
Currently in Essex, 105 shoplifters are subject to CBOs, imposed by the courts. Conditions can include being banned from entering shops they frequently target or, depending on their offending patterns, entire store chains across Essex and even further afield.
“Here in Essex, we spotted the potential for using CBOs to deter shoplifters and, in some cases, where their offending is fuelled by addiction, divert them from criminal behaviour," Christian added.