National policing intelligence unit Opal has made significant strides in tackling organised retail crime during its first year of operation, bringing to justice crime groups responsible for £8m financial impact.
Funded by the Home Office and the Pegasus Partnership (a collaboration between retailers and policing coordinated by CC Amanda Blakeman and Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne), the team within Opal collects and develops intelligence around organised retail crime from retailers and police forces.
Since 1 May 2024, the team has received 153 referrals from retailers and police forces across England and Wales, identifying 313 offenders and 105 linked vehicles.
The referrals resulted in 37 operations totalling nearly 5,000 offences nationwide with 148 arrests to date and 33 court outcomes leading to custodial sentences and deportations for foreign national offenders.
Of the organised crime groups identified and monitored through Opal’s work, there has been a 50% reduction in offending since 1 May 2024, “demonstrating a clear impact in disrupting these high harm offenders and networks,” it said.
Action taken following a referral can range from simply identifying an individual or vehicle right through to a complex investigation of an organised criminal network.
In addition to the results presented today, the government has allocated an additional £5m in funding to Opal over the next five years.
“This really is a huge step forwards in the fightback against shop theft that will benefit all retailers up and down our country,” said Katy Bourne, Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner and APCC joint lead for Business and Retail Crime.
It was “very clear” that retailers were suffering from shop theft and needed a better method to share information and intelligence with police forces nationally, said Bourne.
“The results published today, on our first anniversary of operation, speak for themselves and show the power of collaboration, trust and hard work, leading to nearly 150 criminals arrested and put before the courts,” she added.
Commenting on the one year anniversary of the intelligence unit, Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for volume crime, said: “Partnership and collaboration is vital in our fight against retail crime, policing cannot do this alone and through Pegasus we have built strong relationships and information sharing which enables us to target resources where they are most needed.
“Without the national intelligence coordination from Opal’s highly skilled team, many of these offenders brought to justice over the last year may never have been identified or at the very least, the huge scale of their offending may not have been identified. And in a lot of cases, the scale and level of offending is what has led to the most significant court outcomes.”
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