Overview

• Lancashire Constabulary’s new digital guide, ‘How to Deter a Shoplifter’, recommends designated customer greeters greeting every entrant to boost staff visibility and deter offenders.
• Additional tactics include hiring visible security staff, installing warning signage, offering assistance to suspicious customers and monitoring behavioural or clothing cues.
• National shoplifting rose by 20% to 530,643 offences in the year to March, amounting to about 1,400 theft reports daily across England and Wales.
• Police and crime commissioners have urged meaningful court penalties for repeat offenders, warning that arrests alone lack deterrent effect.
• Privacy concerns persist over retailer tactics, with the ICO cautioning against suspect image postings and policymakers weighing technology solutions such as facial recognition.