Preston: Plain-clothes police target city shoplifters
- Published
Six people have been arrested, and one charged with drug possession, after a shoplifting crackdown by plain-clothed police in a city centre.
Police in Preston carried out patrols on foot and on bikes on Friday, with 11 people being stopped and searched.
The force said being out of uniform allowed officers to blend in with shoppers and store staff.
Insp Dave Byrne said: "This was a really successful operation with some great results."
He said: "We supported some of the highest-affected stores in Preston city centre, and we will continue this work to stamp out shoplifting and hold the offenders to account.
"The message is really clear: shoplifting will not be tolerated in Preston and we will continue our work to tackle this sort of criminality.
"You never know when you will be in the presence of a plain-clothed police officer."
Why not follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, external, X, external and Instagram, external? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk, external