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The fight against retail crime continues building momentum thanks to strong partnerships between policing and retailers and recent Government announcements to strengthen legislation.
The national team collating and coordinating intelligence from police forces and retailers across the country has now effected over 100 arrests (108) of individuals involved in organised retail crime, collectively responsible for over £5.2m in losses to businesses.
The team within Opal (policing’s national intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime) has been operational since 1 May 2024 and is funded by the Pegasus Partnership, a joint initiative between the Home Office, policing and retailers and facilitated by PCC Katy Bourne. It coordinates the sharing of intelligence to gain a clearer picture of those who are behind the increase in retail crime.
Opal’s team receives referrals from police forces and retailers and builds intelligence packages, mapping out offending across the country and providing investigative support to bring the highest harm offenders to justice. A package will then be collated and shared with the most appropriate police force to progress the investigation and take action against offenders.
In addition, new legislation announced in the Crime and Policing Bill makes assault of a retail worker a standalone offence and alongside a change to ensure all offences of shop theft are tried as ‘general theft’, removing the perceived immunity granted to shop theft of goods to the value of £200 or less.
“We’re fast approaching a year since the organised retail crime team within Opal began accepting referrals and it’s positive to see so many results, with real impact being made. Behind each offender is not just a list of offences, but damage to businesses and all too often trauma experienced by retail workers who suffer abuse at the hands of these criminals.
Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman is National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for acquisitive crime.
“We want retailers, workers and the public to feel safe in our shops and to know that policing is doing everything we can to tackling the problem. Working in partnership with retailers, Opal can build a detailed picture of offending across borders so there is quite literally nowhere for these individuals and groups to hide.
“The recent announcements of a standalone offence for assault of a retail worker and the legislation change to ensure any shop theft offence is dealt with robustly, whatever the value, further strengthens our policing response and shows the seriousness of this criminality.
“In addition this dedicated work at a central level, we are seeing much progress in police forces developing their response to retail crime, working closely with their partners to improve the safety of our communities. From prevention to dealing with offenders, we must keep working collaboratively to drive this offending out of our high streets.”
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