Shoplifting rising and rising, have you ever witnessed it?

Baby formula is in demand because dealers use it to cut with illegal drugs.

we had two of the long self service tills for large shopping that have now been taken away because of theft, i said to a lady that she had forgot to scan the two four packs of heinz soup and also that the carrier bags are not free and have to be scanned, other times i have watched older ladies putting items in there handbags, other times it has been a man with the supermarkets own bag for life putting items in and then only scanning 1 or 2 things at the checkout. years ago i worked on my own in a charity shop, we would get people in taking clothes, i knew they needed clothes and i would get them a bag and ask what size they needed, they would come back a few days later and give a couple of pounds from there benefits, all the clothes were 50p so it was not much of a loss.

Marauding gangs - organised - are not only going into shops and supermarkets, they are riding around on bikes, scooters and motor bikes and grabbing handbags, mobiles, etc from people in the street... stealing cars from driveways, too.

The Police are under-funded, under-resourced - and generally, nowhere to be seen when these kinds of crimes are being committed. And they are focusing on the more 'easy' targets... like that woman who was surrounded by a number of officers because she refused to show her train ticket. I'm not justifying her behaviour BTW, nor criticising the police - they are doing what they are told to do. The culture has changed.

I believe things will get worse and there will be more and more lawlessness. We need a robust police force to deal with these kinds of crime, and that kind of policing has long gone.

A hard working lass I know, had her car window smashed and her purse stolen She was annoyed with herself for leaving it on display but had thought that as all she had in it was 4 pence and was taking her card with her to pay in the shop, then it would be ok. The shop had cctv of the young man responsible for the theft and damage but the police said it just wasn’t cost effective to arrest him. She put the cctv footage on line and the young man was later attacked and had both his wrists broken by a group of “young thugs “ who attacked him for no reason. I LOVE hearing stories like that. Oh, and one of the shop assistants offered to replace her car window if she picked up a spare one from the breakers yard.

The only time I saw anyone shop lift was when I was 16 and worked in Littlewoods food hall. A man put a packet of lard under his hat. In those days lard was only a few pence this was in 1974.

My grandson, working in retail for a while, got his arm slashed trying to stop a marauding gang, who were literally clearing shelves and cabinets.

The shop (small branch of a large retail group) did nothing. The police didn't bother turning up, despite CCTV. They just told my GS to get his wound checked out at A&E, and it's best not to confront these gangs.

My GS left, the shops gets raided a couple of times a week, and no one does a thing.

Eventually, this shop will close because of cost. The locals will lose it, and the staff will lose their jobs.

But, this is nothing unusual, and if there's no punishment, then sone just continue to do it.

There is a huge black market for cheap food and goods, so it's easy money.

Crazy.🙁

And they are focusing on the more 'easy' targets... like that woman who was surrounded by a number of officers

Just to put this into contest, Dickens. The police were on the spot in this case as they’d been asked to attend while TfL carried out a planned mass check of tickets.

Maggiemaybe

^And they are focusing on the more 'easy' targets... like that woman who was surrounded by a number of officers^

Just to put this into contest, Dickens. The police were on the spot in this case as they’d been asked to attend while TfL carried out a planned mass check of tickets.

That puts a different perspective on it, then. I can't remember where I read about this event (online) but it gave the impression that the police were 'called' rather than on site, which would of course explain the numbers of officers available.

I think the dissatisfaction that many people feel is because they feel somewhat 'abandoned' in terms of their own protection of property - and safety. Also the 'low-level' crime that plagues neighbourhoods - you will frequently hear people say - when told to report something - the police aren't interested. That's the perception. The reality is probably more to do with the fact that there just are not sufficient numbers of officers available to deal with low-level / anti-social crimes... and burglaries at private properties. So the scope of work the force carries out has had to be reduced.

I live in a quiet small town in The Cotswolds - quite recently our small local supermarket was ram-raided in the early hours of the morning. There have also been break-ins - smashing of shop fronts, and increasing numbers of burglaries in private properties. This was unheard of when I moved here 17 years ago.

One business owner has had his shop raided twice - both times he simply called the police for a crime number, cleared up the mess and opened up again the next day. He's now talking of abandoning the whole enterprise.

Can you see where this is leading? Criminals know they are very unlikely to get caught (the ram-raiders have not been identified) so will continue to 'enlarge' their operations. Low-level crime will proliferate because there is little power to stop it. I dread to think what things will be like in the future.

I can see why people are dismayed.

Mallin

A hard working lass I know, had her car window smashed and her purse stolen She was annoyed with herself for leaving it on display but had thought that as all she had in it was 4 pence and was taking her card with her to pay in the shop, then it would be ok. The shop had cctv of the young man responsible for the theft and damage but the police said it just wasn’t cost effective to arrest him. She put the cctv footage on line and the young man was later attacked and had both his wrists broken by a group of “young thugs “ who attacked him for no reason. I LOVE hearing stories like that. Oh, and one of the shop assistants offered to replace her car window if she picked up a spare one from the breakers yard.

You like hearing that a young man was attacked and got his wrists broken, that is shocking.

The young man was was a thief and what he did was wrong but two wrongs do not make a right.

Quite frankly what you posted makes you as bad as him.

Mallin, how sad that you see a group of young thugs attacking someone as a story you like. Whilst the thief may be on his uppers which has caused him to steal, there is no excuse for thuggery. There are quite a few cases where people have taken the law into their own hands just to find they've misidentified the "criminal." What should we do? Use thuggery on the thugs? We'd soon have anarchy.

icanhandthemback

*Mallin*, how sad that you see a group of young thugs attacking someone as a story you like. Whilst the thief may be on his uppers which has caused him to steal, there is no excuse for thuggery. There are quite a few cases where people have taken the law into their own hands just to find they've misidentified the "criminal." What should we do? Use thuggery on the thugs? We'd soon have anarchy.

We'd soon have anarchy.

Some of the knife and gun crime is committed because of 'revenge' in one form or another.

I believe we are seeing the beginning of anarchy. If the law cannot control the gangs and individuals involved in both random and organised crime, that is exactly what will happen eventually.

Sadly Dickens I am inclined to agree with you.

Who are all the people that are buying stolen goods, without them there would not be so much theft.

Many years ago there was often someone dodgy in a pub selling things but I doubt that is happening now so where are the thieves finding the buyers?

Theexwife

Who are all the people that are buying stolen goods, without them there would not be so much theft.

Many years ago there was often someone dodgy in a pub selling things but I doubt that is happening now so where are the thieves finding the buyers?

Good question.

Where are these criminals selling from - is it word-of-mouth, online even?

The 'dodgy bloke in the pub' has been replaced by something more organised, more sinister.

We had a chap driving around our locale some time ago with "fresh fish", lots of it. His van parked up the road had no name on it. I didn't like his manner and my instinct told me this was not kosher so I refused. He got really aggressive. I discovered later that he'd knocked on quite a few people's doors and they'd all declined... I mean is anyone going to buy fish from an unknown source? I suspect he was one of the 'mafia' trying to ger rid of stolen stuff.

Was in Aldi today for the first time in several weeks and the assistant at the till asked if she could check my carrier bags (in my trolley) were empty before she rang through my items. She said staff have been told they have to due to the increase in shoplifting. She said the police aren't interested even when it is repeat shoplifter. They had a fourteen year old who routinely walked out with a bottle of vodka and nothing was done.

Yes witnessed it hundreds of times on a daily basis in the 70s more so when the fair arrived in our city, the fairground people would come into the shop.and sweep the contents straight into holdalls, half dozen people at once. Very intimidating and loud they were. This would happen everytime they came to the city, yes we had a security person who worked alone, but what could they do certainly not challenge them !

Theexwife
Seriously? Obviously you’ve never lived on a huge social housing estate or in a deprived area. It’s part of life.

Lucyd

Was in Aldi today for the first time in several weeks and the assistant at the till asked if she could check my carrier bags (in my trolley) were empty before she rang through my items. She said staff have been told they have to due to the increase in shoplifting. She said the police aren't interested even when it is repeat shoplifter. They had a fourteen year old who routinely walked out with a bottle of vodka and nothing was done.

She said the police aren't interested even when it is repeat shoplifter.

One has to ask, "why"? Why are they "not interested" - or is it the case that they are so under-resourced that they don't have the manpower to tackle anything but what is considered to be the most serious crime?

Going back again to that woman who was handcuffed for not producing proof that she'd bought a ticket - why is fare-dodging more important than stealing - in some cases quite a huge haul - from supermarkets? Why can't supermarkets carry out similar checks on their customers with the police in the background ready to "assist" when someone, or a group, decides to simply walk in, take what he or they want, and walk out again?

The lost revenue is recouped through increased prices to passengers and to customers of supermarkets. TfL can recruit the police presence - supermarkets can't, and their hands are tied because their private security cannot legally tackle a thief by laying hands on him / her.

I've seen it happen - an individual walking in with a huge 'hold-all', wiping stuff off a shelf and walking out again. It's actually quite alarming, and it's increasingly becoming a regular occurrence. Will it reach the point where there are more thieves than paying customers?

The cost of retail theft in UK supermarkets The latest figures are taken from the report Retail Crime Costs in the UK 2019. This gave a figure for external theft from supermarkets and other retail stores of £1,993 million during that year. (source: t-class.co.uk/news/how-much-do-uk-supermarkets-lose-to-theft/#:~:text=The%20cost%20of%20retail%20theft%20in%20UK%20supermarkets,retail%20stores%20of%20%C2%A31%2C993%20million%20during%20that%20year.)

That's quite a large amount of money! Do the supermarkets etc absorb the losses - or are they passed on to the customer? If so, that means that the law-abiding are subsidising the law-breakers - basically, paying them to be law-breakers!

One day I was in Iceland with my DM, we were looking in one of the fridges when a man came up beside us and put every pack of bacon in his holdall then walked out. I was that gobsmacked that I could not get any words out and just kept pointing. Another time I was in W H Smiths with my DH when this young woman started stuffing her bag with dvd's and cd's, DH told one of the staff and they stopped her leaving.

They don’t mess around with these scroats in my neck of the woods.🥊

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10131663/Shocking-moment-Asda-security-guard-KNOCKS-man.html

I guess we could wait until the emboldened marauding gangs move on from Aldi etc and decide to try their hand in Harrods or other upmarket establishments - then there might be some concern and calls for a 'crackdown'?

I have seen homeless people just walk into Greggs and pick up stuff and walk out. the staff don't bat an eyelid anymore! I am split between being pleased that the homeless people are being fed and being annoyed because everyone else is paying!

As a child in M&S many years ago with my mother I noticed a well-dressed woman close to us and I was looking at her as she was wearing a beautiful perfume that smelled lovely. I was about to say this to my Mum when the woman very quickly picked up some men’s socks from the counter and stuffed them in her large handbag. So the moral of the story is, if you’re going out on the rob don’t wear nice perfume!

M&S were always a good touch for shoplifting as you could get a cash refund without proof of purchase.
Many years ago we had woman living near us who ran a shoplifting business.
Drink or drug dependence would steal the stuff, take it to her and get a cut of what she sold it for.

We were sat in a restaurant in Liverpool city centre a guy was walking around the tables trying to sell stuff. It’s not unusual but if there is no deterrent it will carry on and get worse.

I was shopping with my son and daughter when they were younger we watched on three occasions different people stealing. When I approached customer services the supervisor said they had cameras on all aisles. Then said not one member of staff had noticed anyone stealing recently. There was not one member of staff on the shop floor at the time we were there about an hour.

If they don’t employ staff enough to cover the shop floor. Then staff turn a blind eye to stealing it’s not surprising the losses are immense. Maybe the staff are not encouraged to challenge shop lifters because the police won’t attend to such incidents.