A new team within the national policing’s intelligence unit, Opal, will soon begin gathering and analysing information about organised retail crime groups as part of the government’s plan to combat shoplifting.
Funded by the recently established Pegasus partnership, the team is implementing training programs for retailers and police forces. These initiatives aim to guide them how to refer intelligence effectively which can then be analysed and explored on a national scale.
The virtual sessions will take place through April and will demonstrate how the team will work with forces, retailers, businesses and organisation to gather information.
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Opal head of intelligence Stephanie Coombes said: “Opal has been carrying out this role for other crime types for a number of years and we have seen significant successes from having a national overview of what’s happening in the organised crime world.
“We know that many retailers have intelligence built up through their own systems and processes and the training sessions aim to demonstrate how they can work with us to share that information so action can be taken.
“We need to stress that Opal’s service does not replace reporting incidents to your local police force, it is a route for sharing information and intelligence packages and one of the key requirements for making a referral is having a crime number for the related incidents.”
The Office for National Statistics reported in January that shoplifting offences across England and Wales have skyrocketed to their highest rate in 20 years with more than 400,000 incidents reported last year – up 32% on last year.
Primark stepped up its efforts to deter criminals last month by introducing blue ‘sold’ stickers to seal its paper bags, with those without stickers on their bags stopped at the exit.
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