More than 500 shoplifting crimes reported last year in Winchester

From April 2023 to February 2024 547 shoplifting crimes in Winchester were reported to the police, an 11.9 per cent increase from the last performance year.

Although outcomes came from less than half of the reports, at 235, this was still a 155 per cent improvement and nearly double the county average of an 83.3 per cent increase in outcomes for victims.

The progress follows Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones and Chief Constable Scott Chilton’s crackdown on shoplifting crimes across the county.

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PCC Jones said: “Shoplifting will not be tolerated. It will be investigated. The force will find thieves and bring them to justice. If you assault retail workers, or threaten them, you can expect to be brought to justice.

“To support the police I have raised this issue with judges and magistrates to make them aware of this new relentless focus and that they can expect to see an increased volume of people being brought to justice through the courts.

“We need to send a clear message, and as Police and Crime Commissioner, for me it’s simple. If you steal, you will be punished. If you need help with a drug addiction or an alcohol addition, support is available for you. However, if you don’t take advantage of that support, shoplifting is no longer going to be an easy option.”

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Chief Constable Chilton said: “It is not acceptable for retail staff to come to work and fear criminality, anti-social behaviour or violence.

“If left unchecked, we know that retail crime can put shops out of business, causing people to lose their jobs and lead to a deterioration of the local area, which only serves to further increase crime and put more shops out of business.

“The increase in reports shows that the business community now has more confidence to report incidents to us because we will take action. All reasonable lines of enquiry will be pursued to identify offenders, secure available evidence, seek to recover property and ensure witnesses are identified and interviewed.”

Op Stopall, which is tackling the most prolific retail offenders by working with the business community to gather evidence on repeat retail crime offenders, was run as a pilot in Portsmouth. Some 248 offences have been reported, 10 offenders have been charged with 176 offences and there are currently five individuals under investigation for another 72 offences.

The operation is now being launched forcewide.