When I joined the Metropolitan Police in the early 1990s, arresting shoplifters was my bread and butter. It was how I learned to do my job. In fact, in those early years, I probably made more arrests for shoplifting than I did for any other crime.
But, back then, there were usually enough of us to take the calls. At the start of my response shift at Brixton, there would be as many as 20 of us on duty, with similar numbers at nearby stations in Streatham and Kennington. These days, you’d be lucky to get that number for the entire borough of Lambeth. And, as in Lambeth, so in every other part of the country.
