The Metropolitan Police is expanding the use of a digital crime reporting platform across London after a pilot delivered a fourfold increase in the proportion of shoplifting cases resulting in charges, cautions or other positive outcomes, in a move that could strengthen retailers' confidence in reporting theft.
The technology, developed by retail crime intelligence platform Auror, allows retailers to submit CCTV footage, witness statements and other evidence directly to police officers at the point a crime is reported, cutting the time needed to gather evidence from weeks to minutes.
Following a pilot in six London boroughs, the system is being rolled out from today to a further eight boroughs – Southwark, Lambeth, Sutton, Croydon, Bromley, Hillingdon, Ealing and Hounslow – with additional areas set to follow in the coming months.
The platform is already used by subscribing retailers across Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley, including major high street chains such as Tesco, Boots, Marks & Spencer and Greggs.
According to the Met, 29.4 per cent of shoplifting reports submitted through the platform resulted in a positive outcome, compared with the force's previous average of 7.3 per cent.
Chief Inspector Rav Pathania, the Met's lead for business crime, said the technology was enabling officers to identify offenders more quickly and build stronger cases.
“The results speak for themselves. This crime reporting technology is helping us identify offenders faster and bring more shoplifters to justice,” he said.
“By receiving CCTV footage and evidence directly from retailers at the point a crime is committed, we can build stronger cases and act more decisively.”
The force said reported shoplifting offences across London fell by 3.7 per cent in the last financial year, equivalent to around 3,500 fewer offences, while arrests for retail crime increased by almost 50 per cent. Positive outcomes more than doubled from 2,682 to 5,996 over the same period.
For retailers, the technology aims to reduce the administrative burden of reporting crime while improving the chances of offenders being prosecuted.
Julie Murphy, vice president for London and Travel at Boots, said the platform had enabled store teams to report incidents “more quickly and effectively” while helping police target prolific offenders.
“The results published by the Met today show that we are making progress in bearing down on shop theft, and Boots is pleased to be supporting the roll-out of direct-to-police reporting via the platform to a further eight London boroughs,” she said.
Auror said the results demonstrated the benefits of closer digital collaboration between retailers and police.
Nick McDonnell, vice president of law enforcement partnerships at Auror, said tackling prolific and organised retail criminals required a coordinated approach because offenders often targeted multiple retailers rather than a single chain.
“The key to getting on top of high-volume, violent and organised retail crime is enabling that collaboration between police and retailers, so they can focus on the highest-harm offenders in their communities,” he said.
McDonnell added that one major grocery retailer had reduced the time staff spent documenting crime by 80 per cent using the platform, while a major fuel and convenience retailer had achieved a 40 per cent positive outcome rate from reports submitted at its London sites.
“This digital collaboration is not about flooding police with automated alerts for potential crime; it’s about giving frontline retail colleagues the right tools to efficiently and diligently make direct-to-police reports with high-quality evidence and information, so police can act,” he noted.
He said the technology helped police spend less time collecting physical evidence and reviewing CCTV, allowing officers to focus on offenders without increasing workloads.
“Thousands of policing hours are being saved, more offenders are being held to account, and retailers and police are collaborating, not finger-pointing,” he added.
The Met highlighted several recent convictions secured with evidence submitted through the platform, including prolific offenders who received prison sentences and Criminal Behaviour Orders banning them from entering major retail chains across England and Wales.