Humberside police to ramp up efforts to tackle shop lifting
Over 516,000 shop theft offences were committed last year according to national property retail crime
Humberside police have released details on how they intend to stop up policing and crackdown on everyday shop lifting, saying:
"Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. The impact that shoplifting has should not be underestimated. There is the financial loss which can be devastating for some businesses, but also the impact on staff members too. Over 516,000 shop theft offences were committed last year according to national property retail crime.
"Neighbourhood Policing Teams are ramping up efforts to tackle shop thefts around our force area."
Neighbourhood Policing Chief Inspector Alasdair Booth said:
“No one should feel unsafe or threatened at work and we are ramping up efforts to target criminals who continue to commit retail crime offences.
“We take all reports of shop theft seriously and assess cases on an individual basis, we do not work to a monetary value threshold for prosecuting offenders.
“We are continuing to work with communities, shops, and business, providing specialist crime prevention advice to repeatedly targeted retail premises, and the force is committed to helping businesses that are repeatedly targeted.
"Humberside Police is focused on ensuring that repeat offenders responsible for committing offences against the same businesses are quickly identified and arrested to prevent further offending.
“Members of the public can expect to see increased patrols in key targeted areas and town centres across the Humberside Police area as part of the Safer Streets Summer Campaign.
“We’re working alongside partner agencies to improve communications across retail premises and will continue to collaborate to reduce retail crime, target those responsible, and continue to seek through the courts Criminal Behaviour Orders to prevent further offending by identifying repeat offenders.
Officers say how retail crime will not be tolerated across the Humberside Police area and the force is determined to ensure retail businesses continue to feel safe.