Shoplifting reports rocket in Lincolnshire

A staggering 17% rise in shoplifting crimes affected businesses in Lincolnshire and Humberside over the last year.

A recent study by OnBuy.com, investigated the total number of shoplifting offences recorded by 42 police forces across England and Wales in the financial year of April 2017 to March 2018.

Lincolnshire Police is 27th in the list of total incidents after recording 5,374 shoplifting crimes during this period, which is a 17% increase on the previous financial year where there were 4,578 reported offences.

Humberside Police ranked 15th in the list after reporting 9,141 incidents of shoplifting, which is also a 17% increase from the previous year.

There was a 4% increase from the previous year nationally in England and Wales.

Onbuy shoplifting incidents infographic. Photo: Onbuy

Lincolnshire Police

The county’s force has teams dedicated to a specific area which liaise with retailers about particular issues, hotspots and potential offenders.

Lincolnshire Police also manages a Stopwatch scheme with support from local businesses and investigates using CCTV where possible.

It also has an ARC scheme, which isn’t specific to shoplifting but it takes specific shoplifters as clients.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said: “We have a scheme called ARC which integrates all relevant services to provide an intense programme for the most prolific of our offenders.

“For example the scheme will bring in Addaction where there is substance misuse, will find shelter where there is homelessness and will offer counselling where there is mental ill-health.

“As such it looks at the causes, not just the symptoms of crime. The number of offences committed by ARC clients dropped by 53% in the twelve months after adoption, an estimated saving of £1.9m to public services and victims of crime.

“It is really frustrating for businesses to have to deal with shoplifting – it is a waste of their time and their profits. In turn it affects communities who are expected to pay higher prices overall.”

Humberside Police

A spokesperson for Humberside Police said: “Like most forces in England and Wales, we have seen a rise in reported shop thefts. This is something we work closely with retailers to address, giving crime prevention advice and training where required.

“We have regular community patrols in key areas where we know there are high incidents of shoplifting and have identified repeat offenders across the force area.

“A number of factors can come together to have an impact on the amount of thefts from shops. From people struggling to meet ends meet financially, benefit changes, through to changes in store policies to an individual needing to feed an addiction.

“Shoplifting is a high demand, high volume, yet low vulnerability crime. We will continue to work with our partners and with existing shop watch and city centre schemes to tackle shop theft.”

Lincoln BIG Security Group

Lincoln BIG has its own Security Group to help ensure safety in the city.

As previously reported, the City of Lincoln Council upgraded the city’s CCTV cameras to a new wireless high definition 4K UHD system after a £400,000 investment.

There are just under 300 cameras throughout the city, which went live in December 2017.

Lincoln BIG invested £55,000 in upgrading its radio link scheme last October and more than 200 sets have been issued.

Lincoln BIG Security Group Co-ordinartor Yvette Hall said: “There’s been a strong effort by both Lincoln BIG and the City of Lincoln Council to deter shoplifters and nip this issue in the bud and I have not had any reports indicating there is a significant increase in the problem.”