A new “zero-tolerance” plan is set to be agreed between ministers, police and retailers in a bid to crack down on the current shoplifting epidemic.
Police chiefs will unveil its plan on how they intend to tackle shoplifting at a summit in Downing Street today as the number of incidents top more than 1,000 per day, The Sunday Times reported.
It comes as the police have been accused by retail bosses of not taking the crime seriously enough and not responding to their reports.
As part of the plans, shoplifting will have a dedicated national unit – Operational Opal – that will investigate cases from an organised crime perspective.
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The new unit is set to receive a £600,000 investment from a group of 13 retailers, which include John Lewis, Coop, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Next, under a new agreement called Project Pegasus.
Analysts in Operation Opal will analyse footage from CCTV, dashcams, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and information collected from crime reports to identify organised crime groups that are behind mass shoplifting of goods.
They will also run each CCTV image of shoplifting offences provided by retailers through its Police National Database, which includes facial recognition technology.
The “zero-tolerance” plan will also see police forces sign up to a new commitment to attend the scene of every shoplifting incident reported to them that involves a threat of violence to store and security employees.
Store security guards are expected to be given new guidance and best practice for how to detain shoplifters under a citizens’ arrest.
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