Police deny ignoring low value shop thefts

Reported cases of shoplifting in Hartlepool are rising

Police have been forced to deny rumours that thefts in shops have to exceed a certain value for them to attend the scene.

Sue Little, a Hartlepool Borough Council official, said residents had told her police would not attend a shoplifting incident unless the stolen items were above a certain value.

But Cleveland Police Superintendent Martin Hopps insisted “such a policy is not in place”.

Any decision over police attendance was “determined by whether we have reasonable lines of enquiry,” he said.

The Safer Hartlepool Partnership meeting heard that incidents of shoplifting in the area had risen dramatically over the past year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Between October 2022 and September 2023, there were 722 more shoplifting incidents reported in town compared to the previous year - a rise of 66% to a total of 1,815 offences.

Rachel Parker, a community safety team leader for the local authority, said the rise in shoplifting incidents might be due to there being more methods available to log any incidents with police.

“There’s no doubt that shoplifting is an issue in Hartlepool, and it’s not unique to Hartlepool,” she said.

“While figures have gone up, a lot of work has been going on around confidence in reporting.”