“He’s running with what looks like an XBox!” – the breathless alert comes over the radio. “I don’t think you will catch him. He is like a whippet.”
Street ranger Andy Cruddace gives chase for 200 metres, through streets packed with Christmas shoppers, and into Newcastle’s famous Bigg Market. The shoplifter disappears down a side street. A prolific offender, he had a toy replica, not a real XBox, snatched from a nearby store. A warning is immediately sent out to 151 traders in the crime reduction partnership set up by the city’s business development district, NE1.
The uniformed patrol, many of them ex-military, are a response to the huge increase in shoplifting offences. The Mirror has been demanding urgent action in our Clampdown on Shoplifting campaign. We believe police must investigate all shoplifting incidents and want to reverse Tory laws that downgraded theft worth less than £200 to a minor offence.
Andy, 30, is out of breath when the Mirror catches up with him. He says: “He was very fast. For him, it is an easy resale; it’s probably worth £70 and he will get £30. To him, this is a profession.”
At work in Newcastle city centre (North News & Pictures Ltd)The offender’s details are sent through an app to other businesses nearby. He had targeted Be More Geek, which sells film, TV and gaming merchandise. The rise in shoplifting means their most expensive stock is now secured out of reach.
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And not even charity shops are safe these days. Sportstraider sells vintage clothes to help victims of domestic violence. A sign in the window reads: “Please don’t shoplift, we are a charity.”
Owner Sara-Jane Warren, 45, a mum-of-three, tries to help the homeless and those struggling with addiction. “We try to find them a place to live, offer them voluntary work here,” she says.
Michael Fitzmaurice with retail worker Jordan Maddison (North News & Pictures Ltd)Michael Fitzmaurice, 42, ex-Royal Army Medical Corps, is the ranger manager for NE1. “You think that nobody would take from a charity shop,” he tells us. “But they steal from everywhere. We are wearing uniforms and so nine times out of ten when we stop them, they give us the stolen goods back. Often, the shop owners radio us because we can get there quicker than the police.”
Shoplifting is estimated to cost retailers almost £1billion a year. Under a new scheme, UK businesses will be urged to send CCTV footage of incidents to police.
It comes after Police Federation of England and Wales chair Steve Hartshorn said: “We need more boots on the ground as our workforce is already drowning in demand.”
Last year more than 342,000 shoplifting cases were reported to police in England and Wales, up from 275,000 a year earlier.
Thieves in action (North News & Pictures Ltd)Third are victims
Almost a third of small business owners have been robbed, according to a report by the Federation of Small Businesses.
It found 56% lost more than £1,000, while one in 10 were down by more than £10,000. When reported to the police, 59% of victims said officers did not attend the scene. Just 3% say forces investigated, identified and arrested the perpetrators.
FSB policy chair Tina McKenzie said: “We’ve been hearing countless reports of organised shoplifting over the past year. The Home Secretary and the police must act to provide the safety and security on which day-to-day economic life depends.”
Our campaignBrazen
The “softly softly” approach on shoplifting means prolific offenders are more brazen than ever, a business leader warns.
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Stephen Patterson, chief executive of NE1, the Newcastle business improvement district, said that Government policy and pressure on policing means the worst offenders avoid jail. He told the Mirror: “It used to be something that the shoplifters would try to get away with.
“Now, they walk in, pick up a basket, fill it with goods and just walk straight out. There’s no attempt to hide. The criminal justice system does not want to see those who commit ‘low level crime’ in jail. It is a national issue, and it is about police resources.”
Lisa Collins, of retail workers union Usdaw, said shoplifting isn’t a victimless crime. “It affects our members. From being screamed at, called names, shouted at, to even physically abusing them to get the products the thieves want to take.”
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