Retail crime reduction efforts not working, say shopkeepers

This is according to preliminary findings from the British Retail Consortium's annual Retail Crime Survey.

Early results from the survey indicate that retailers believe the government and the police are not seriously committed to tackling retail crime.

Ninety per cent believe retail crime is low on the Government's agenda, and just five per cent believe police treat retail crime as anything other than a low or very low priority.

BRC director general Kevin Hawkins said: "These figures show shopkeepers feel they have been abandoned. Attempting to hand shoplifters over to the police has become time wasting and futile. Too often they are not interested, and even when there is a successful prosecution the penalties are derisory. A lot of store managers are now resigned to the fact that their own efforts at beating the crooks will not be supported."

The new BRC figures come as the Sentencing Advisory Panel consults on its widely criticised proposal to further water down penalties for shoplifting. The SAP's own research shows 95 per cent of those convicted of shop theft had at least one conviction and, on average, each offender had been sentenced 19 times before.

The BRC believes that a "combination of weak penalties and poor enforcement" has led to the proliferation of shop crime. It is calling on both the government and police forces to "recognise the significant negative impact retail crime has on retailers, communities and the economy", and to make it a greater priority.

"The retail industry has poured billions of pounds into state of the art security systems designed to detect and detain shoplifters, but this investment is not as effective as it should be because law makers and enforcers fail to treat shop theft seriously," Hawkins said.

• RAID-CONTROL, THE RETAIL robbery reduction initiative involving the police and the security and retail industries, has reached a significant milestone by signing up 51 members three years after its launch.

Recent new members include ACPO Crime Prevention Initiatives, Focus DIY, Lancashire Constabulary, Insafe International, Police Service of Northern Ireland, IVS CCTV, and the National Federation of Retail newsagents.