ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to figures obtained by the Press Association (PA) about the incidents of shop theft in the UK. According to the figures, Police from forces in England and Wales investigated 78,110 incidents of shop theft in UK supermarkets 2017, an almost 8% increase from 72,423 in 2014.
Figures from the ACS 2018 Crime Report show that there were over 950,000 incidents of theft estimated over the last year, with the top three reasons reported by retailers as to why people steal from their stores being:
- opportunism (36%)
- someone motivated by an alcohol or drug addiction (32%)
- an organised group of criminals (22%)
ACS appeared on BBC Breakfast, Sky News and Radio 4 highlighting the issues that retailers face in terms of shop theft and also received coverage on The Telegraph and BBC News.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “The numbers of reported thefts pale in comparison to the reality of retail crime. In total, we estimated over 950,000 incidents of theft in convenience stores last year.
“In the convenience sector, more than half of thefts are now not reported due to frustration with police forces not investigating or prosecuting thieves. Some police forces have introduced arbitrary thresholds below which they no longer investigate thefts, ranging from £100 to £200.
"Adopting these thresholds effectively prices small stores out of receiving any response to thefts against them, and publicising these policies encourages more theft and gives the impression of these offences being decriminalised.
“Challenging offenders in store often leads to violent incidents which have a huge personal impact on retailers and shopworkers. Only Government action can break the cycle of more theft, violence, inadequate police response and ineffective sanctions.”
ACS’ 2018 Crime Report is available here.
