A major crackdown on shop thefts in Nottingham city centre saw officers make arrests in 83 separate investigations last month alone, it has revealed.
Despite the widely reported surge in shoplifting in recent years, the force in Nottingham said offenders are now having difficulty evading them in the heart of the city.
The news follows a clampdown on retail theft from the city’s police, who’ve been working with businesses to detect shoplifting and identify suspects.
Once tracked down, many offenders have quickly found themselves in court thanks to a direct charging scheme, known as Operation Retail. Led by retail crime officer PC Phil Yates, the scheme has removed the necessity to interview suspects where there is “clear and overwhelming evidence,” freeing officers up to investigate other reports.
Such has been the success of Op Retail, it has been incorporated into the wider Operation Reclaim project, launched in May and a partnership approach to tackling the major issues affecting the city centre, resulting in more than 450 arrests to date.
As well as tracking down offenders, neighbourhood officers have continued working with retail partners to prevent offences happening in the first place, contributing to a 10% reduction in shoplifting over the past two months.
Among those jailed in June were Roxanne Yaxley, 32, of Nottingham, who was jailed for 18 weeks after stealing steak from Sainsbury’s, and Liam Newton, 32, of Mansfield, who received four weeks after stealing meat from Tesco.
Multiple other suspects are due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court over the coming weeks having been charged with various offences. They include four people breaching their Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs).
“We’re committed to doing all we can to reduce thefts and pursue offenders…”
PC Yates said he and his neighbourhood policing colleagues will continue to track down and arrest those who commit shop thefts in the city centre: “Retail crime has a significant impact on local businesses, which is why we’re committed to doing all we can to reduce thefts and pursue offenders, especially the most prolific and habitual ones.
“I’m delighted our efforts are paying off, with shoplifting down 10% in the city centre. This has been part of a three-pronged approach to tackling retail crime, with the primary focus being on the investigation and detection of crime, as well as ongoing work with retail partners to attempt to prevent and reduce crime from occurring at their premises.
“Part of this includes CBO applications. As a neighbourhood policing team, we have successfully obtained CBOs against repeat offenders this year, and further applications have been made against some of the individuals arrested in June.
“Many of these were charged without interview due to overwhelming evidence where they pleaded guilty at the first appearance in court. Op Retail has sped up the efficiency with which retail-related thefts can be investigated and suspects charged to court with many of these suspects often being circulated or arrested and found guilty in court not long after investigations have commenced.”
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