THURROCK has been one of the 'hotspots' of police activity to combat shoplifting.

In the past fortnight, Essex Police officers have secured a total of 72 charges of shop theft and two of assaulting a retail worker against a total of 23 people.

A total of 53 arrests for shop theft in Essex were made between 19 August and 1 September 2024.

Twelve people were arrested across the Colchester district; nine in Thurrock, seven in each of the Basildon, Chelmsford and Tendring districts; five in Harlow and five across Southend; while one was arrested in Hertfordshire by Hertfordshire Police.

Officers have made 104 arrests for shop theft in the past four weeks. Between 1 January and 31 August 2024, that figure rises to 963.

Sergeant Christian Denning says: "I have heard it said that police don't deal with shop thefts of less than £200 so there's no point in reporting them. That is categorically untrue. 

"We take every shoplifting report seriously and always look to secure charges where we have the evidence to do so. Often this will be CCTV footage and witness statements provided by the retailers themselves.

"In many cases, individual offences may involve less than £200 of goods but, frequently, offenders commit multiple thefts and the totals soon add up, making a huge difference to a retailers' bottom line. And it doesn't stop there, because a business will need to recover those costs, often by increasing prices."

Our Business Crime Team reviews every shoplifting arrest and encourages retailers to report all shop thefts, assaults of shop staff and related anti-social behaviour through its Open For Business, Closed For Crime initiative.

Sgt Denning says: "The information they provide is vital for us to identify emerging retail crime trends and to adapt our specialist crime prevention advice to address them."

Business crime officers also work with their local colleagues to apply to the courts for criminal behaviour orders (CBO) to tackle persistent offenders.

Of those arrested in the past two weeks, Essex Police will be seeking criminal behaviour orders against at least two of them.

CBOs aim to tackle the underlying causes of offending and may require offenders to engage in treatment services, such as drug and alcohol addiction support.

It is an offence to breach the terms of a CBO and courts can impose a maximum sentence of up to five years' imprisonment or a fine, or both, for an adult convicted of breaching them.

Further investigations need to be carried out in 15 cases, four people have been cautioned for shop theft, three have received a community resolution while no further action will be taken against eight of those arrested during the two weeks.

Community resolutions enable the police to deal with certain offences and offenders outside the formal criminal justice process.

To receive a community resolution, the offender must admit their guilt and carry out the resolution agreed by the victim and the investigating officer.