Police almost double the number of thieves found shoplifting across MK and Buckinghamshire.
Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber, has welcomed news of a 98% increase in charges for shoplifting offences across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes.
Almost 1700 shoplifters were charged between April and mid-October this year, compared with just 850 for the same period in 2023. The creation of a special Business Crime Team at Thames Valley, and a growth in the visible presence of police officers and PCSOs (support officers) in a scheme called Operation Purchase, are among the reasons for the increase.
“I’m pleased to see real progress in tackling shoplifting with an increase of over 90% in charges for shoplifting offences across the Thames Valley,” said Matthew Barber.
“At the start of the year, I pledged to turn the tide on retail crime in the Thames Valley with the publication of my Retail Crime Strategy. The Strategy set out a series of actions to tackle shoplifting, retail crime and violence towards shop workers. This operational focus on retail crime is clearly paying dividends.
“However, as with all crime, enforcement forms only one part of the response. A core part of my Retail Crime Strategy was to make reporting shoplifting offences easier and more efficient for retailers.
“To facilitate this, I funded the rollout of Disc, an information-sharing and reporting platform which allows retailers to report and access information about crime such as shoplifting and anti-social behaviour (ASB). The App is now available, free of charge, to businesses in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes.”
More than 500 shops and businesses have signed up to the initiative already. Now Thames Valley Police are asking for further involvement from businesses, saying that as vital intelligence increases, the better the policing response will be.
“These statistics highlight the progress we are making in dealing with this issue, but our work doesn’t stop here,” said Community Policing Command, Chief Inspector Stewart Codling.
“We will be focused on working with our partners and communities to create a hostile environment for those who commit retail crime. Our local neighbourhood policing teams will continue to dedicate focus under Operation Purchase on targeting offenders as effectively as possible and we will do all we can bring them to justice.”
