Warwickshire Police try to rebuild retailers' trust as shoplifting soars

PC Tom Shorthouse, from Warwickshire Police, said he was trying to rebuild relationships with retailers in the town

A police officer brought in to tackle a rise in shoplifting in Nuneaton and Bedworth town centres has made more than 20 arrests in six weeks on patrol.

PC Tom Shorthouse said his priority was to rebuild relationships with retailers amid claims that thefts are rocketing.

Retailers said they have reduced their hours or stopped some shoppers entering their premises.

Shoplifting offences in Warwickshire rose by 20% between September 2022 and September 2023, latest figures show.

The Office for National Statistics said 2,673 offences were recorded, mirroring a national upward trend.

Mitchell Ward, manager of Nuneaton Toolbox, told BBC News he had put a barrier on his door amid rising thefts of tools and hardware in recent months.

He claimed he has been attacked on numerous occasions as he tried to apprehend the perpetrator himself, as he had "lost faith" in the police and had stopped reporting offences.

Nuneaton Toolbox said it has been the victim of regular thefts and has installed a shopfront serving hatch, meaning staff get people's items

Warwickshire Police responded by saying they were taking decisive action.

BBC Midlands Today followed 32-year-old PC Shorthouse on patrol around Nuneaton town centre, where he spends the majority of his shift.

"A lot of the persistent shoplifters are known to us, we are often on first name terms with them," he said.

"The shops will always speak to us, we encourage them to report this because a lot of it doesn't go reported.

"On the evidence we receive, that's when we can start enforcing it robustly."

Nuneaton's Safer Neighbourhood Policing team have also focused on chasing up outstanding warrants - those who have been charged with theft or drug offences but failed to appear in court.

Mitchell Ward, manager of Nuneaton Toolbox said he had "lost faith" in police responding

On the afternoon we filmed his patrol, PC Shorthouse made three referrals for men suspected of rough sleeping, spoke to several school pupils suspected of stealing from a newsagents and visited the address of a woman who failed to appear in court on drugs charges, though she was not in.

"We are dedicating proper resources to this now,"he said.

"In terms of the offenders, they are often feeding a habit, usually drugs and drink, so we want to support them to break that cycle."

Charity Change, Grow, Live (CGL) in Abbey Street in Nuneaton has been working with police to assist in offering support to persistent offenders.

Although their main focus is supporting people with a range of drug and alcohol dependencies, they have also looked at ways of reducing the risk of offending, including offering food bank support or making clothes donations.

Sam Featherstone, from CGL, said they can minimise the risk of offending with partnerships.

Sam Featherstone, from CGL, said it was important to collaborate with partners

"We offer food here, tea and coffee and we have a clothes rail at the front for people to choose an item," she said.

"It's all about collaboration. With the police, and community workers, we know who they are and who to contact."

In Nuneaton, officers told us they were aware of "industrial scale" shoplifting linked to organised crime gangs but smaller scale, opportunist thefts are more commonplace.

Statistics from the Warwickshire force show that during 2023, detection rates improved with 34% of thieves facing charges compared with 17% the previous year.

They included persistent offender Mana Gill, 28, who was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment for shoplifting, burglary and assaulting two shop staff in Bedworth, as he tried to feed his heroin habit.

Warwickshire Police said Mana Gill fed his heroin habit by stealing from shops in Bedworth

A growing number of retailers are joining the Warwickshire Retail Crime Initiative, sharing intelligence on offenders and using radio communications to ensure a rapid response.

But the cost of shoplifting and security across the industry nationally is increasing dramatically.

The British Retail Consortium's Retail Crime Survey found shops spent £1.2bn on measures such as CCTV, increased security personnel, and body worn cameras, while the cost of theft to retailers went up to £1.8bn from £953m the previous year.

Warwickshire Police is clearly trying to build bridges with local traders, but at a national level 60% of retailers described the response from police as "poor" or "very poor".