The Government’s Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) has today issued a report which assesses the various issues around numerous types of addiction that can lead an individual to commit crime.
The report charts the levels of crime, arrests and instances of reoffending across the UK, It also analyses the types of crime committed, how regularly they occur, and - perhaps most pertinent to convenience retailers - when substance abusers might reoffend.
It found that 35% of people entering treatment had received at least one recorded caution or conviction in the two years before starting treatment, across five crime ‘types’ including theft, motoring offences, licensing offences and others.
But in one encouraging result from the report, the figures show a substantial reduction in offending after treatment, with 44% fewer people committing offences and the overall number of offences falling by a third. The data was grouped into five crime ‘types’ spanning theft, motoring offences, licensing offences and others.
The analysis also found that men were marginally more likely to offend - and reoffend - than women. However, there were significant variations with this difference across the substance groups – across everything from alcohol to harder drugs such as crack cocaine. Those in employment also had a reduced level of reoffending, particularly people in treatment for opioids or alcohol, the report found.
As you might expect, not being homeless also reduced the proportion of people reoffending, with gender, social deprivation and age also having an effect on the odds of reoffending. A slight drop in the levels of offences around the turn of the 2020s was attributed to the pandemic.
Following the report’s release, the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has called for greater focus on targeted interventions for persistent offenders after the success of drug treatment.
The ACS reiterated that it has consistently called for a comprehensive approach to tackling retail crime, combining stronger enforcement against offenders with targeted interventions that address the drivers of persistent offending.
It believes the latest figures provide further evidence that treatment and recovery services can play an important role in reducing crime and supporting safer communities.
“These figures demonstrate that there shouldn’t be a ‘one size fits all’ approach to shop theft interventions.”
ACS chief executive, Ed Woodall (above left) said: “Retailers report that addiction problems are a significant motivating factor for many of the offenders that steal from their stores. These figures demonstrate that there shouldn’t be a ‘one size fits all’ approach to shop theft interventions, and that targeted measures including treatment and rehabilitation can make a positive difference to reoffending rates.”
Findings from the ACS’ own Crime Report this year also show that addiction, opportunity and organised criminality are the top three motivations for repeat offending. Overall, there were 5.8m incidents of theft committed against convenience stores over the last year, it revealed.
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