Arrests after retail crime crackdown

A close up image of a man's back with his hands cuffed following an arrest. He is wearing blue jeans and a dark blue sweatshirt. Image source, Getty Images
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Surrey's Police and Crime Commissioner has vowed a return to "back-to-basics policing"

  • Published

Eight people have been arrested during a week-long campaign to target shoplifting in Surrey.

Officers and PCSOs visited retail staff in Guildford and Waverley, while plain-clothed behavioural detection officers, trained to spot suspicious behaviour, blended in with shoppers.

Surrey's Police and Crime Commissioner said retail crime caused victims "financial, emotional, and sometimes physical harm" and also impacted the wider community.

Lisa Townsend, who joined patrols in Farncombe, warned shoplifters: "The person browsing the aisle beside them could be a Surrey Police officer."

A woman with short blonde hair wearing a pale yellow jumper and black trousers stands next to a man wearing a police community support officer uniform with a body camera and radio attached. Image source, OPCC Surrey
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Surrey's Police and Crime Commissioner on patrol with PCSO John Savage

The commissioner has vowed a return to "back-to-basics policing" in her Police and Crime Plan, a blueprint for the force's priorities over the next three years.

She said that Surrey Police's progress had been "really impressive" over the course of the year but that she had heard "loud and clear" that more must be done to tackle retail crime.

About 200 members of the business community took part in a survey launched by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and Surrey Police in March.

The OPCC said a report on retail crime and the force's response will be published in the coming months.

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