PCC candidates say visible patrols reduce shoplifting

Shoplifting offences are rising but the number of prosecutions has fallen

All four candidates to be Surrey's next police and crime commissioner (PCC) have said higher visibility policing is the key to tackling shoplifting.

It follows the revelation that the number of prosecutions for the offence in the South East has fallen in the last five years, while recorded offences have risen.

The PCC candidates were speaking to BBC Radio Surrey.

The election takes place on 2 May.

Surrey's current PCC, Conservative Lisa Townsend, said she had asked new Chief Constable Tim de Meyer to make tackling shoplifting a priority.

She said: "We have had operations going on, I've been speaking to shopkeepers and they are seeing a real improvement.

"It is making clear to shopkeepers all the different ways they can report, we want to make it as easy for people as possible to report crimes."

Kate Chinn, Labour's PCC candidate, said the situation was "completely out of control" and shopkeepers told her they don't report crimes "because there's no response, the police don't come out".

She said: "The police need to be in the town centres, on the shopping parades, uniformed and also plain clothed. They've had one or two blasts at getting shoplifters and that's when they have made arrests.

"It's not good enough to do it now and again, they need to do it consistently."

Prosecutions for shoplifting in Surrey have fallen by two-thirds in four years

Paul Kennedy, who is running for the Liberal Democrats, said: "Wherever I go across Surrey people say, 'we pay the highest council tax in the country for our police service and we just don't see the police at all and they don't respond when there's a problem'.

"We have a new Chief Constable who I think has made a good start but there's been no real performance monitoring over the past few years, to incentivise the police."

Independent candidate Alex Coley said: "I was riding the bus into Epsom and saw two police officers chasing a shoplifter. I haven't seen that in 10 years.

"I think the resolve rate, which is remarkably low in Surrey, it's a reflection of how seriously the police are being told to take this particular issue.

"If you've got a sense it's deprioritised, you will have hundreds, possibly thousands, of low level petty theft just being ignored."

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