A plan that will be lenient on shoplifters in the midst of the rising cost of living crisis has the support of the police.
In response to soaring inflation, a Tesco store in West Derby, Liverpool, which loses £50,000 a month to thieves, will be the first to introduce the test programme. There are hopes that it will eventually be implemented nationwide.
Police won’t detain anyone who have been caught red-handed taking necessities like food.
Instead, Tesco security personnel will point them toward nearby food banks and financial counselling organisations, according to the Mirror.
In light of the recent spike in thefts, the director of a police watchdog recently advised officers to exercise “discretion” in deciding whether to press charges against shoplifters.
The retail sector has previously reacted angrily to suggestions not to report theft, branding them “irresponsible.”
The Tesco idea’s proponent and Labour MP Ian Byrne said to the Mirror that he wants it to be implemented nationally and that it does not give people “carte blanche” to shoplift.
“This kind of theft is an act of desperation,” he declared. Many of our parents would never have thought of shoplifting. Stopping the criminalization of the working classes is what I seek.
No one in our society should have to steal to eat or support their family, according to Merseyside Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell, who also spoke to the Mirror.
“It is a terrible indictment of this Government’s legacy.” Our first priority is constantly reducing crime. To make sure that vulnerable people receive support, we are already working with partners in the retail sector and community safety.
‘The West Derby Tesco will train guards and employees to recognise symptoms of desperate theft and react appropriately. There will be posters around the shop with information about support services.
In May, Andy Cooke, the chairman of the new policing watchdog, recommended that officers consider if it was preferable to bring people who steal to eat in front of the courts.
The chairman of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Mr. Cooke, a former police chief of Merseyside, said: “The impact of poverty, and the impact of lack of opportunity for people, does contribute to an increase in crime.”
When addressing communal tensions and dynamics, he told The Guardian that police forces in England and Wales were adept at handling them.
He continued, “What they’ve got to have in mind is what is the best thing for the community, and that individual, in the way they deal with such issues.”
And I certainly totally support police officers who exercise discretion; in fact, they should do so more frequently.
Theft and other crimes have increased in previous economic downturns. Cooke also added. He remarked, “It’s one of the best things about being a police officer.” You are free to choose your own course of action with regard to all of these matters. It’s nothing brand-new.
He echoes Donna Jones’ remarks, who oversees the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners’ work on serious violence and victims.
She advocated for persistent shoplifters to avoid incarceration last year and floated the idea that merchants may foot the bill for drug offenders who steal to support their habit.
It is foolish to suggest that shoplifting should not be taken seriously, according to Tom Ironside of the British Retail Consortium, who rejected the notion.
Shoplifting costs merchants £2.5 billion a year, which includes the cost of the actual crime as well as security measures. When confronted, it frequently leads to violence and abuse towards retail personnel, many of whom are women.
‘The law enforcement response is already weak, with just 6% of the daily 455 occurrences of assault and abuse taken to court,’ he claimed in September.
Retailers informed The Grocer, a trade publication, that theft rates are “off the charts so far this year,” the publication said in May.
According to the magazine, store managers have reported greater crime rates because they are seeing “new first-time shoplifters” rather than “the typical suspects.”
Professional shoplifters often target expensive items like booze, razors, and other items they can resell, but a new breed is stealing even the cheapest products off the shelves, according to The Grocer.
In contrast to the more frequently targeted luxury, high-priced items, it continued: “One store manager noticed stealing starting to climb across ordinary and low-value items “that you’d see in your weekly basket.”
The crime rate is “off the charts,” according to retail analyst Bryan Roberts of Shopfloor Insights, who also stated that the issue is unquestionably growing worse.
Some businesses have brought back the one-way entry and exit ports that were there during the Covid period to help socially isolate clients but are now present to make it simpler to monitor who enters and exits.
Others have increased security by adding staff and/or CCTV cameras.
One store manager told The Grocer, “We stopped an elderly the other day who was trying to steal products like shampoo and washing powder. People will have to start making decisions due to the expense of living.
Dr. Sinéad Furey, a senior lecturer at Ulster University and an expert on food insecurity, claimed that this was “not a new problem.”
“We’ve seen this before during past periods of austerity or economic crisis,” she said.
“The resurgence of’stealing to eat’ instead of being able to ‘afford to eat’ is yet another proof that we need effective policy solutions that put enough money in people’s hands in a respectable way so that poverty and turning to crime do not become common ways to secure the most basic necessities of living,” the author writes.