A new police unit set up to combat rising shoplifting rates has made 93 arrests and disrupted 28 organized crime groups responsible for £4 million in thefts, police leaders said.
Five Romanian shoplifters have been deported as a result of Operation Pegasus, which aims to build a national intelligence picture to combat the epidemic.
Shoplifting rates are at their highest since records began in 2003, with costs to retailers estimated at £1.8 billion per year.
A total of 469,788 offenses were recorded by the armed forces in the year to June 2024, a 29 per cent increase on the 365,173 recorded in the previous twelve months.
Pegasus, which is partly funded by major retailers, receives referrals from retailers and maps violations across the country to track repeat offenders targeting stores in different strength areas.
Since its launch in May, police have identified 228 repeat offenders who were previously unknown to police.
The team has also identified 70 vehicles used in organized retail crime.
So far, 32 of the 93 arrested perpetrators have appeared in court, including the five perpetrators who have been returned to Romania.
Shoplifting rates are at their highest since records began in 2003, with costs to retailers estimated at £1.8 billion per year.
A total of 469,788 offenses were recorded by the armed forces in the year to June 2024, an increase of 29 per cent on the 365,173 recorded in the previous twelve months
Almost 444,000 shoplifting incidents were recorded in England and Wales in the year to March, compared to 342,428 in the previous 12 months.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex Katy Bourne, who led the partnership between police, retailers and the Home Office, said police should have been using this approach already.
“My ambition was always that this would be normal for the police,” she said.
‘It should never have gotten to this stage. Criminals are very effective at finding new opportunities to commit crimes and because this was not on the radar it went unchecked and we have seen such shocking crime rates.
“But 28 gangs disrupted in seven months is pretty phenomenal.”
When asked if 93 arrests are enough, Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council on Greedy Crimes, said: ‘It’s much, much more than that, in terms of the total it’s only 93 arrests of the organized groups that we have to map out the work we have done with Pegasus.’
Offenders deliberately target different geographical areas and stores to avoid detection, police believe.
Ms Blakeman said “a large number of people” are involved in the crime, including members of organized gangs and people with alcohol and drug addictions.
“We’re seeing that some of the shoplifting, shoplifting, is caused by organized crime,” she added.
“We’re also seeing some of it being driven by offenders who may be dependent on alcohol or drugs, and we’re also seeing some of it being being driven by first-time offenders.”
Ms Bourne said the next stage of tackling the crisis would be to track down the items stolen by organized gangs to determine who is selling them on and running the operation.
Anyone buying surprisingly cheap items at this time of year and not from retailers should be suspicious of where the goods come from, Ms Blakeman added.
‘We ask the community to think when they buy something, especially at this time of year: if it’s not from the retailer and it seems incredibly cheap, it probably has a background that you should be suspicious of and not . buy it,” she said.
Authorities have called for more funding to tackle the shoplifting epidemic
Paul Gerrard, director of campaigns and public affairs for the Co-op, said the retailer has seen the difference the crackdown makes.
He added: ‘As a community-based retailer, we know that working with police is the way we can continue to tackle retail crime together – neither businesses nor police can solve this alone.
‘Co-op has put a spotlight on the involvement of organized crime, which is driving the increase in retail crime. Our commitment to local shopping and investing to make our communities safer places where they can thrive and prosper remains a priority.”
