London is in the grip of a shoplifting epidemic that’s seen a huge spike in crimes over the past year.
In this episode, Evening Standard crime correspondent Anthony France reports how store theft in the capital now costs retailers over £9 million every month as offences soared by almost 50 per cent.
It comes as the head of the British Retail Consortium, writing in this newspaper, reveals how “violence, abuse and theft are all significantly up on pre-Covid levels”. Helen Dickinson says thieves are becoming bolder and more aggressive, contributing to what she calls “a torrent of violence and abuse” against shop staff”.
But Dickinson adds that only seven per cent of violent and abusive incidents leading to prosecution - with the figure even less for shoplifting.
Increasingly brazen thieves are bursting into stores with wheelie bins, suitcases and holdalls to clear shelves of items.
The culprits often steal sought-after commodities such as meat and baby formula,
Our correspondent tells how staff who try to intervene are subjected to racist and sexist slurs, threats and violence.
One inner London Co-op supermarket was looted three times in one day by organised gangs.
Facial recognition technology trials are being promoted as a possible solution to help stop shoplifters - although privacy campaigners warn increasingly saturated CCTV comes at the expense of the civil liberties.
Meanwhile, out on the capital’s streets, Londoners with high-value watches continue to be targeted in violent robberies - and we’ll have more on this in part two of the Standard podcast.
Listen above, or wherever you find your podcasts.
