RESIDENTS and supermarkets across Reading have called for more to be done to prevent rising levels of shoplifting.
Reading Today has been made aware of several incidents of retail crime over the past few weeks across the town, the vast majority of which were conducted by repeat offenders familiar to shop users and staff.
Reports in the national media have highlighted the recent prevalence of shoplifting, with the BBC citing a Freedom of Information request which found that 71% of serious retail crime is not responded to by the police.
South Reading resident Jimmy Wharton raised concerns in June about frequent thefts at his local Co-op store conducted by the same perpetrator. Three months on, he expressed his frustration at a perceived lack of action.
He said: “The police are unfit for purpose. We’ve spoken to the managers at the store and they say that there have been around 200 instances of [him] stealing from the store since December 2022, it’s all on CCTV.
“It beggars belief that this person is able to continue stealing. I can’t understand how it can continue to happen, why aren’t the police arresting him?”
The offender’s most recent visit to the store allegedly saw him make five attempts to steal products on the morning of Tuesday, September 12. While staff were able to resist the first four efforts, he was eventually able to make away with stolen goods.
Mr Wharton added that he had attended a neighbourhood forum meeting two months ago, where he was assured that both Thames Valley Police and the Co-op were committed to tackling thefts from the store.
Since then, he believes there hasn’t been any noticeable difference in the shop’s security measures claiming there had been occasions where police cars had driven past the store while a theft was taking place inside.
The Co-op has called on police forces to offer more support in recent months following what it acknowledged to be an increase in “brazen and violent” theft in stores carried out by “repeat and prolific” offenders.
On September 10, the company announced that it was extending its use of anti-theft dummy display packaging for products targeted by thieves.
The empty packaging is used for higher value items, such as coffee, higher-value chocolates, laundry gels, washing powder in stores where there is a known local issue. Genuine shoppers need only take the dummy case to the till where it will be exchanged for the actual product.
A spokesperson for Co-op, said: “Crime in many communities is increasing, with known, repeat and prolific offenders predominantly driving the incidents of brazen theft which is an ongoing challenge for all retailers.”
Kate Graham, the company’s director of operations, added: “Co-op continues to invest significantly in keeping colleagues and stores safe. This includes extending our use of dummy display cases to deter the incidents of ‘bulk-shoplifting’ or, ‘looting’, as it has been described, where criminals sweep products off shelves for resale.
“While we are doing all we can, we also need the police to play their part as too often, Forces fail to respond to desperate calls by our store teams and criminals operate in communities without any fear of consequences.”
Another resident took to social media to voice similar concerns about shoplifting at a different branch. They suggested that thieves are now so confident that they won’t get caught there that they no longer cover their faces.
They implored the authorities to prosecute the regular offenders at the store and added that the police regularly leave “blatantly obvious” crime unpunished.
Resident, Tim Crooks, has a slightly different point of view. He believes already-stretched police resources make it difficult for them to be on-hand to prevent all shoplifting cases and that regular citizens have an important role to play in combating the issue.
Over the weekend, he witnessed two men piling a large bag with bottles of alcohol at the same Co-op store.
The schoolteacher confronted the thieves and managed to stop them leaving the store with around a dozen bottles of red wine.
Of the incident, Mr Crooks explained: “I honestly didn’t think about whether he was armed. It was just a sheer gut feeling that he was doing something he shouldn’t be doing. In those moments you don’t have time to think things through.
“Living in the community, I feel like everybody has to play their part. The police can’t be everywhere at once.”
He described being sad that no-one stepped in to help, despite the street being relatively busy at the time. Eventually one onlooker did help him grasp one handle of the thieves’ bag to prise it away from them.
Thames Valley Police was approached for comment but had not responded before the time of publication.
