'This is not a victimless crime' - Why this policing team is determined to tackle shoplifting in Telford
Across the UK, reported retail crime has increased significantly in recent years, leading the government to outline plans to create a new specific offence of assaulting a retail worker and to remove the threshold on so-called “low-value” shoplifting offences.
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Despite the rise, local police officers say shoplifting is often perceived as being a "victimless crime", with big businesses able to pick up the bill.
But with shop staff and members of the public at risk, shoplifted goods often sold to fund drug habits and prices on the rise, one team of officers in Telford want to change that perception.
Local policing Sergeant for Telford town centre, Richard Jones and his team of four officers and one PCSO are responsible for covering the shopping centre and surrounding retail parks.
According to Sergeant Jones, the team receive around 120 reports every month, or about three or four each day.
Sergeant Jones, "We have a group of eight to ten individuals that are regular offenders, and they're the ones that we're trying to work with on diversionary routes.
"We work with our local partners, STaRS (a drug and alcohol treatment services), to try and get some of our offenders off those substances - because that is often the reason they start to steal items from stores - to pay for addictions.
