Met Police agrees to prioritise violent retail incidents in crime ‘crackdown’
It's part of an action plan to crack down on crime in London.
The Metropolitan Police has agreed to prioritising attending violent retail incidents as part of an action plan to crack down on crime in London.
Senior leaders from the Met, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime as well as some of the UK’s largest retailers met at New Scotland Yard on Wednesday to agree to boost collaboration to cut crime, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said.
Police also agreed to improve updates to retailers on the progress and outcomes of reported crimes, and focus their efforts on prolific offenders and organised crime groups.
Retailers agreed to ensure “high quality” evidence, such as CCTV and body-worn camera footage, is preserved and shared and to provide police with a single point of contact to reduce delays.
Retailers also pledged to give employees the necessary time to support the criminal justice process.
The Met is the largest police force in the country, with the capital accounting for approximately a fifth of all retail crime incidents.
The Met also made almost 50% more arrests over the last year, while the “positive outcome rate” for retail crime – which is a charge or caution – rose by 123% to 5,996, the BRC said.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “We hope today’s action plan can boost collaboration between retailers and the Metropolitan Police: working together and sharing intelligence is essential to tackling the scourge of retail crime.
“Theft already costs shops hundreds of millions of pounds every year – money that would be better spent investing in lower prices and improving the customer experience.
“The Crime and Policing Act offers police new powers to clamp down on criminals and it is essential that offenders are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Better intelligence sharing, improving reporting, and robust enforcement are critical to turning the tide on retail crime once and for all.”
Matt Twist, Assistant Commissioner for Frontline Policing at the Metropolitan Police, said: “We understand that shoplifting has a corrosive impact on businesses, retail workers, and communities.
“That’s why we remain committed to engaging with the retail sector and today’s roundtable is another step in the right direction.
“By putting more officers into our neighbourhoods, we have cut shoplifting offences by nearly four per cent, but we know there’s still more work to be done.
“Sharing evidence is crucial in building strong cases and stopping offenders, we will continue to work with business to ensure incidents are reported to bring those offenders to justice.”
Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, said: “The Mayor has worked with the Met to drive shoplifting and theft down across London.
“Record funding from City Hall is putting more officers on the streets in the West End and in hotspots across the capital, where they are working with retailers to crackdown on prolific offenders and ensure London is a no-go zone for shoplifting and antisocial behaviour.”