Forces to crack down on prolific retail offenders

The programme will see pilot forces identify a cohort of around 30 of its most prolific offenders and intensify efforts to stop their offending and work in partnership to address root causes.

The first forces invited to trial the programme have been selected because of local retail crime challenges, existing partnership arrangements and the opportunity to build on activity already underway locally.

The new Prolific Retail Offender Pilot was unveiled by the Home Secretary on Wednesday (November 11) as part of Safer Business Action Week (SaBA) and a national partnership focus on tackling shop theft and abuse against retail workers.

The Home Office says an initial £2.5 million in overall funding will be available to participating forces and local partners, which will be tailored to what is needed in each area.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) says although shoplifting offences fell by four per cent in the year ending March 2026, behind much of this harm sits a small group of highly prolific offenders.

Figures show just nine per cent of offenders account for more than half of all retail crime convictions.

The NPCC said over the past three years, since the national Retail Crime Action Plan was introduced, policing has made significant strides in its fight against retail crime, strengthening relationships with retailers and greatly improving information sharing.

Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss, NPCC lead for retail crime, said: “Many forces and local partnerships are already delivering impressive work to collectively tackle this crime type, including providing training and support for retailers, advising on effective crime prevention methods such as the use of security systems and investment in technology, as well as developing reporting processes that make it quicker and easier for businesses to share information with the police.

“We welcome the Home Secretary’s announcement today, which provides policing and partners with additional support to tackle some of the most prolific retail crime offenders who continue to cause harm to businesses, retail workers and local communities.

“The programme aims to develop and test a more intensive, multi-agency approach to a small cohort of prolific offenders to reduce repeat offending, improve outcomes for retailers and communities, and provide an evidence base for future national policy.

“Nationally, we will continue to work closely with the Home Office and police forces to support development and implementation of the pilot and build on the progress already being delivered to tackle retail crime.”

He added that while a small number of prolific offenders accounts for a large amount of retail crime, a significant proportion can be attributed to organised crime groups (OCGs).

In May 2024, Opal – policing’s national intelligence unit to tackle serious organised acquisitive crime – launched the first national dedicated organised retail crime (ORC) intelligence capability within policing as part of the Pegasus Partnership, which encompassed a range of partners who came together to tackle ORC.

Since then, Opal has developed what has now become the largest national ORC incident-based data set, combining both law enforcement and industry data to map out potential organised crime activity across the UK, identifying where offenders are targeting multiple geographic areas and retailers.

Chief Superintendent Owain Llewellyn, head of Opal, said: “The work of Opal is crucial in providing support to police forces and coordinating working with retailers to tackle those offenders who are operating across county borders and causing the most harm.

“The unit discovers, develops and co-ordinates intelligence at local, regional, national and international levels, taking referrals from police forces and retailers to then develop intelligence such as identifying offenders, linking offenders and/or vehicles through the Police National Database, looking at patterns of offending and sharing information packs about prolific offenders.”

In the past six months alone, Opal’s Organised Retail Crime (ORC) team has received 69 referrals from police forces and retailers, of which 53 were developed, resulting in 19 operations being adopted.

A total of 2,001 offences have been recorded and 145 offenders identified, of which 30 people have so far been arrested.

Since it’s creation in May 2024, the ORC has adopted 103 operations which have resulted in 287 arrests, 221 court outcomes including custodial sentences of more than 129 years and 23 deportations.

Of the OCGs identified and monitored through the work of Opal, there has been a 73 percent reduction in offending by these groups, demonstrating a clear impact in disrupting these high-harm networks.

Forces participating in the pilot are: Avon and Somerset Police, Devon and Cornwall Police, Essex Police, Greater Manchester Police, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, Merseyside Police, Metropolitan Police Service, Northumbria Police, North Yorkshire Police, Nottinghamshire Police, South Yorkshire Police, Suffolk Police, Sussex Police, Thames Valley Police, West Midlands Police, West Yorkshire Police.

Activity is due to start in stages from early next year, with full programme delivery beginning in the spring for 12 months.

The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) has backed the new measures to tackle the “blight of retail crime” with the focus on core re-offenders.

It says this follows a “concerted period of lobbyin” on the matter from the trade association, which represents thousands of independent retailers across the country.

Fed National President Hemanshu Patel said: “The Fed has been calling for stronger action on retail crime for some time, making clear to government that persistent offenders cannot be allowed to continue targeting independent retailers and their staff with little consequence.

“We welcome the Home Office’s focus on repeat offenders and the recognition that more needs to be done to tackle this problem. However, the real test will be how these measures are delivered on the ground. Retailers need to see offenders being dealt with, police taking action and shopworkers feeling safer in their workplaces.

“Retail crime is not a victimless offence. It affects livelihoods, damages businesses and undermines the communities that independent retailers serve. We will continue to press Government to turn these commitments into meaningful action.”

Despite an apparent levelling-off in retail crime, the Fed has continued to state that theft remains unacceptably high and that this causes direct and indirect on retailers through the loss of stock as well as for necessitating expensive security measures.