Businesses ‘helpless’ against shoplifting as retail crime surges in Thames Valley

Retail crime in the Thames Valley Police area increased by 38 per cent between April 1, 2023 and February 29, 2024.

During this period, there were 14,265 such offences, an increase of 3,891 over the previous 12 months.

The rise in shoplifting and retail crime over the last year is part of a national trend that has been linked to the cost of living crisis.

Statistics on the rise in this type of crime in Buckinghamshire were included in a report presented to a meeting of Buckinghamshire Council’s communities and localism select committee on October 2.

Councillor Penny Drayton told the meeting: “Our local pharmacy has fallen victim to some terrible crimes, like people just coming in and clearing out shelves. They seem to go for the Nicorette stuff, walking in, brazen, in the middle of the day.

“They have asked for help from the police. They are getting nothing. They are getting people walking back in two days later when it has been restocked. They are having to close the doors.”

The councillor, who represents the Wooburns, Bourne End and Hedsor, said the retail crime she was aware of was affecting a ‘country village setting’, but that, looking at the figures, she thought a rise in retail crime was an issue across the county.

She added that businesses had reported shoplifting and had sent videos to the police, while a woman at the pharmacy had even chased shoplifters down the street.

Councillor Drayton asked the cabinet member for communities Arif Hussain what the council was doing about retail crime. He acknowledged that it was a ‘major issue’ and had heard from businesses in High Wycombe where he lives that it was a ‘huge concern’.

Councillor Hussain claimed that retail crime was one of the priorities for the local policing teams and said that the police had increased patrols and set up regular meetings with businesses. He added: “The more it is reported to the police, we are hoping we will push the data they will have a bit more. And hopefully to back up that, they will give it even more priority and more people in the areas they feel are hotspots.”

The cabinet member said the council was working with Thames Valley Police and businesses that were affected by retail crime.

Councillor Jaspal Chhokar, who represents Denham, also told the meeting that businesses in his ward had been affected by retail crime. He said: “In Denham, in Gerrards Cross, we have had incidents of perpetrators coming in and clearing off shelves and walking out.

“The staff are just left helpless, they don’t want to intervene. So, if we could arrange something for Denham and Gerrards Cross to get some attention on that, that would be appreciated.”

The Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber, unveiled a new strategy to tackle retail crime in January.

This included increasing the visible presence of police officers and police community support officers in retail spaces, improving officers’ response to reports and the rollout of an app to make reporting shoplifting to the police faster and more efficient for businesses.