Policing Minister unveils new retail crime strategy

The ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together’ strategy was initially unveiled by Home Secretary as part of the Safer Streets Summer Initiative earlier in the month.

Initiatives include a new ‘Fusion Cell’ model to identify threats, a clamp down on organised crime and an offender management programme.

The strategy has been developed collaboratively by partners from across the retail sector, security industry, policing, academia and the Home Office to “to shift the dial on retail crime”.

Dame Diana said: “For too long, retail crime has been dismissed as ‘low level’ while businesses suffer and communities lose confidence in their local high streets.

“Our Safer Streets Summer Initiative will see increased police patrols and local action in over 500 town centres this summer, and we are bringing in new laws to protect retail workers from assault and put an end to the effective decriminalisation of shop theft under £200.

“This new retail crime strategy demonstrates what can be achieved when government, police and the retail sector work in partnership and is another vital step in our fight back against this corrosive crime.”

She is calling for more retailers to join the collaboration and support the new strategy.

The ‘Fusion Cell’ will ‘fuse’ retailer knowledge with policing powers, to enable effective identification, assessment and management of criminal threats to the safety and security of retailers.

A six-monthly assessment will be published outlining current, emerging and predicted trends and outcomes from previous activities.

Jason Towse, Mitie’s managing director of business services, said: “The new ‘Fusion Cell’ will enable regular benchmarking of threats, predict trends and identify high harm places so extra support can be deployed.

“We urge more retailers to join the campaign to enable the sector to take a holistic view of the issues and target the root cause of criminality.”

In addition, the strategy includes:

A continued clamp down on organised retail crime – The sharing of intelligence relating to organised criminality to policing so they can investigate, arrest and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to achieve criminal justice outcomes;

The identification of high harm places – Assessing harm to places to allow plans to be developed that target the root cause of criminality with the intent of achieving a sustainable reduction in risk to retailers; and

Offender management – Interventions that address the different motivations of those with the intent and capability to commit crime.

As the strategy is put into practice, new and evidence-based tactics will be put to the test with outputs and outcomes tracked and publicised.

Areas of commonality between industry and policing that require a consistent approach to their application will be established and guidance and support will be offered for the implementation of these standards.

Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for retail crime, said: “We know retail crime has a significant impact on victims, damages businesses and communities and goes far beyond financial loss. We also know it is a complex problem with a diverse offender profile and is something which requires a strong partnership approach, tackling the issues together.”

“Over the last two years we have made significant strides in our fight against retail crime, strengthening relationships with retailers and greatly improving information sharing which has resulted in a number of high harm offenders being brought to justice and the new Retail Crime Strategy builds on this even further.

“It brings together policing, retailers, the security industry and academia in a shared action plan which makes best use of our collective resources to turn the tide on the volume of offending blighting our communities.”

“A collective approach is key, ensuring everyone can enjoy where they live, work and spend their leisure time safely.”

Katy Bourne OBE and Andy Dunbobbin, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners joint leads on business and retail crime, said: “This strategy is an acknowledgement of the urgent need to focus on tackling unacceptable levels of shop theft and violence against retail workers.

“We are delighted that the success of the police and crime commissioner-led Pegasus partnership of retailers, home office and police has been recognised and is being built upon.

“Through the work of Pegasus and policing’s Opal team, a hugely effective, data-led and intelligence-sharing approach has been developed that focuses on organised retail crime gangs with greater police and retailer working at its heart.”

Graham Wynn, assistant director of business regulation at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Retail crime remains a scourge on our high street, with violence and abuse against staff spiralling to over 2,000 incidents a day.

“The cost of theft has also risen to over £2.2 billion a year, pushing up prices for honest shoppers and damaging the customer experience. This is why we welcome new initiatives to try and protect staff, reduce theft, and bring retail crime to heel.”

Edward Woodall, government relations director at the Association of Convenience Stores, said: “Retail crime is not victimless, it harms local retailers, the people they employ, and the communities they serve.

“Tackling retail crime requires coordinated action, and this strategy is a vital step forward. We’re proud to support a plan that puts the safety of retailers and their colleagues at the heart of the response.”

Hannah Wadey, chief executive officer at the Safer Business Network, said the strategy was a “pivotal moment” in tackling retail crime.

“Retail crime continues to have a profound impact not just on businesses, but on our communities as a whole,” she said.

“The launch of the ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together’ strategy is a pivotal moment in demonstrating the power of genuine partnership between government, policing and the private and third sectors.

“At Safer Business Network, we’ve seen first-hand how collaborative intelligence-sharing and offender management can disrupt persistent criminal behaviour. This strategy provides the national framework we’ve long needed to turn insight into impact – and we are proud to be part of driving that change forward.”

Dr Emmeline Taylor, Professor of Business Crime at City St George’s, University of London, and host of the podcast Retail Crime Uncovered, said retail crime not only harms workers and hurts businesses, but undermines communities.

“From violence against shopworkers to organised theft and repeat low-level offending, the impact extends far beyond the shop floor – it hikes up prices for honest customers, damages local economies, and creates fear on our high streets,” said Dr Taylor.

“The ‘Tackling Retail Crime Together’ strategy marks an important shift from fragmented efforts to a unified, coordinated response. While progress has been made in pushing back against the wave of criminality affecting the retail sector, we now need to build on that momentum – identifying what works through rigorous testing of innovative approaches, evaluating their impact, and scaling best practice.

“This is a strategy rooted in evidence, powered by partnership, and focused on reducing harm. It’s a call to action for everyone – from the police to policymakers to businesses – to play their part in creating safer, stronger, and more vibrant high streets.”

The launch was hosted at Mitie’s Intelligent Security Operations Centre in Northampton.