A leading wholesale figure has urged independent retailers to report all retail crime to the police and not to suffer in silence alone after the latest figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales showed that retail theft continues to increase.
In the past year alone, more than 6.2 million incidents of shoplifting were recorded by convenience stores according to the Association of Convenience Stores, costing retailers more than £2.2 billion.
In a plea to retailers, Lioncroft Wholesale CEO and Unitas Chairman Dr Jason Wouhra OBE, wrote, "While some may view shoplifting as a victimless crime, in the wholesale and retail sector, we know this couldn’t be further from the truth.
"Not only does retail theft often lead to violence and abuse towards retail staff, but family-run retail businesses are already under incredible pressure to meet rising costs simply to open their stores and stock their shelves, and they cannot continue to absorb these losses."
West Midlands Police reported a 60 per cent increase in suspected shop theft arrests over the past two years, thanks to changes made to its police model and call handling systems. These changes have seen emergency 999 calls answered in an average of two seconds, while 101 calls had an average wait time of 20 seconds, informed Dr Wouhra.
"West Midlands Police also reported a staggering 235 per cent increase in the number of offenders being charged, cautioned or given out-of-court resolutions in the same time period, which is good news indeed."
Sharing the results West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford said, “We take shop theft and retail crime seriously, and the improvements we’ve made to how we respond are making a real difference.
“With faster call handling, more officers investigating local crime, dedicated prevention work with our key reoffenders and stronger outcomes for victims, we’re now starting to see real impact. We know there is more to do and we are committed to tackling this crime and helping to keep shop workers safe.”
Dr Wouhra added that convenience retailers across the UK should report every instance of retail crime, no matter how small.
We know that historically retailers won’t report retail crime as they lack faith that it will be investigated. However, these results from West Midlands Police show what can be achieved with a dedicated focus.
"We have to act together to take action and really drive change in order to safeguard convenience stores now and in the future."