IN the past week, Essex Police officers have arrested 29 people on suspicion of shoplifting.

And 19 were subsequently charged with theft offences and other related matters.

Cases involving seven of them are still being investigated and two more accepted community resolutions from police officers. No further action was taken against one person.

Seven people were arrested in Chelmsford district between Monday 18 and Sunday 24 September for shop theft. Five were arrested in the Colchester district, three in each of the Southend and Thurrock districts, two people in each of the Basildon, Braintree and Brentwood districts, three at Stansted Airport, one in Maldon and one in Tendring.

Sgt Christian Denning, of our Business Crime Team, says: "We're a specialist team, dedicated to supporting businesses and advising them how to stop crimes from happening in the first place.

"We also work with them to encourage them to report crime to us, whether it's theft of goods or for abusing or assaulting staff.

"Most shop theft investigations are carried out by officers locally to bring offenders to justice.

"But our team reviews every shoplifting case and, where we believe a criminal behaviour order (CBO) would be justified to help to protect retail staff from repeated abuse from offenders and stores from recurrent offending, we work with our local colleagues to apply to the courts for them.

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"As well as banning offenders for an extended period of time from the stores they have been targeting, CBOs can include conditions which seek to help divert offenders from their criminal behaviour."

Of the 29 people arrested last week, the Business Crime Team will be seeking criminal behaviour orders against two of them and another will be subject of a request to vary the terms of their current criminal behaviour order.