Police chiefs have insisted that a new centralised police unit established this year is beginning to “turn the tide” against prolific shoplifters used by gangs.
The Operation Opal group, which gathers crime reports, CCTV and other evidence from the 43 police forces across England and Wales has found 152 prolific shoplifters involved in organised retail crime within the initial three months of its operation, The Times reported.
The news comes as police have faced increasing criticism over a lack of enforcement against shoplifting.
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An analysis by The Times last week revealed enforcement against shoplifters by police and prosecutors had almost completely dropped over the last decade.
Operation Opal is being funded by the wider Project Pegasus scheme, which was set up in September last year.
Under the initiative, ten of Britain’s largest retailers are funding a police operation designed to deter shoplifters, with police running CCTV pictures of shoplifting incidents provided by the retailers via the Police National Database.
Earlier this year, the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales reached a new 20-year peak.
In the year leading up to March 2024, a total of 443,995 offences were reported by police forces, marking a 30% increase from the 342,428 incidents logged in the previous year.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), this figure is the highest since records started in March 2003.
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