Retail boss ‘flabbergasted’ after Met Police chief says shops need to ‘step up’ to help tackle shoplifting
A retail boss has called on the industry to “step up and do better” to help stop shoplifting, saying he “doesn’t believe” comments made by the Metropolitan Police chief.
In an interview with TelegramMet Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said some shops should do more to help police deal with the problem.
Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Association of Independent Retailers, acknowledged police recent efforts to tackle such crime but said he was “stunned” by the comments.
“For him to come out and say ‘we’ve done our part, now you go out and do yours’ is a little out of the field,” he said. Online Mail.
“I’m really surprised he’s announced this. In fact, we’ve all been working hard together – retailers, police and PCCs – as part of the Police and Retail Crime Action Group, which was set up by the last government two years ago to tackle shoplifting, and it’s been a joint effort to get to this point.
“We are grateful that police forces across the country have ‘acted quickly’ to use his words. For example, response times have improved and there have been recent high-profile raids on illegal shops.
“What frustrates me is that it was his collaboration that got us to this point, not just him and his police forces.”
He said despite spending £1.2bn on high-tech extra security measures in the last two years, the industry was still losing £2bn a year in stock.
To talk TelegramSir Mark said the retail industry was “right to tell us ‘please do more'”.
He said: “And we’ve done that. They need to step up further. There are some great ones out there and I’m not going to give a list of good and bad, that would be envious. But I’m just making a mark.”
He added: “A few years ago the retail industry was right to be angry at policing across the country. But in London, in the last year or so, we’ve really doubled down on this. We’re making a lot of progress, but now I have to challenge the retail industry again. They need to do better now.”
He claimed some stores worked with police to help solve crimes, while others did not display pictures or statements blaming the cost.
“They might give them time to testify and they’ll pay them time to go to court. Others won’t do any of that,” he told The Telegraph.
“So if they’re not ready to roll up their sleeves as corporate victims, it’s going to be hard for us to make progress.”
