Police crackdown sees 10% drop in shoplifting offences in Wrexham

A police crackdown on retail crime has led to an almost 10 per cent reduction of shoplifting offences in Wrexham.

Since last Autumn Supt Jon Bowcott has been the North Wales Police lead on retail crime and he’s set up a task force to combat it.

He will be giving an update on the crackdown and offering advice and guidance at a special conference – titled Protect Your Business! Expert Session – that’s free for North Wales businesses next month.

The event between 10.30am and 1pm on Thursday, March 7, at the Scala Cinema in Prestatyn, is being organised by the North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT) in conjunction with North Wales Police and the North Wales Business Council.

Other speakers focus on how businesses can guard against cyber crime and property theft as well as dealing with anti-social behaviour and spotting the signs of modern day slavery.

The renewed push on detecting retail crime across North Wales comes against a backdrop of a significant increase in offences across the UK – with a 32 per cent hike in England and a 36 per cent rise in Wales as a whole.

While the 24 per cent increase in the region is smaller, there have been 800 more shoplifting offences reported in the region since last April, compared to the previous year.

When the campaign started in the Autumn, the detection rate was running at 29 per cent and had increased to just over 38 per cenet during January.

The crackdown has led to a 9.6 per cent drop in the number of shoplifting offences in Wrexham.

Supt Bowcott said: “There has been a national trend where retail theft was increasingly dealt with over the phone if the offender wasn’t there.

“We’re moving away from that and switching it around so that the default option is that we will attend when retail thefts have been committed, particularly where an offender has been detained, where violence has been used or threatened or where there are enquiries at the scene the would benefit from an officer attending.

“Essentially, we are having a renewed focus on combatting retail crime because it’s about fulfilling the message of our mission to make North Wales the safest place to live, work and visit in the UK.

“Cracking down on retail crime aligns well the force’s vision set by our Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman and is absolutely the right thing to do.

“It’s not just about convicting people either because I recognise there are people who struggling with substance misuse or other difficulties so we are also involved with our prevention team who look at methods of offender management that can address some of their lifestyle challenges and sign post them to support.

“One area I want to develop is dealing with repeat offenders to prevent that demand happening. Dealing with the prolific offenders can have a big impact – probably 80 per cent of offending is carried out by 20 per cent of offenders.”

According to Ashley Rogers, the Chair of PACT and Chief Executive of the North Wales Business Council, the improvement in the detection rate for shoplifting was “hugely positive and encouraging” news.

He said: “Coming out of Covid, people’s behaviour is different and the economy is different and retail theft has increased as well as a perception that anti-social behaviour has become more of a problem.

“For North Wales businesses who are on the front line in terms of handling these issues, it’s really valuable to have an insight from the experts along with guidance how to manage things if and when it happens or even avoid it by designing your premises in such a way that would discourage it.

“Over and above that you have the scourge of exploitative modern slavery and there are elements of the problem, like the involvement of organised gangs, that businesses might not be aware of.

“It’s really important that businesses are able to spot the signs of this insidious, often hidden crime, so they can report any suspicions to the police.

“In uncertain economic times it’s never been more important for us all to pull together to make North Wales an even safer place, especially with the very high cost of living.”

More information and how to book a place at ‘Protect Your Business! Expert Session’ can be found here