Nearly 700 shoplifting incidents remain unsolved every day, figures show, as shop workers face a Christmas crime wave.
Last year, 245,500 shoplifting cases were closed without a suspect being identified – an average of 672 per day.
A total of 56.4 percent of the 434,925 cases of shoplifting in the year to March 2024 fell into this category – up from 48.9 percent five years ago.
According to an analysis by the House of Commons Library for the Liberal Democrats, the number of unsolved crimes has risen by 38 percent in five years.
The party warned last night that shoplifters could ‘act with impunity’ and claimed crimes had been ‘effectively legalised’ as police are unlikely to properly investigate.
About one in six (17.2 percent) of shoplifting incidents led to a suspect being charged or summonsed, up from one in five in 2018/19.
The Lib Dems are urging the government to return to community policing. Their home affairs spokesperson, Lisa Smart, said: ‘Shop workers are experiencing a surge in Christmas crime as shoplifters act with impunity and many crimes are effectively legalized by the shocking negligence of the previous Conservative government.
‘The new government must get to grips with this shoplifting epidemic and the hardworking frontline retail staff must be assured that they will not be further let down.
245,500 shoplifting cases closed without a suspect identified – an average of 672 per day
In only one in six cases of shoplifting has a suspect been charged or summoned
Police Minister Dame Diana Johnson said shoplifting rose to a 20-year high in the last year of the Conservative government
“That must start with ministers ensuring officers actually have the time and resources to focus on their local neighborhoods and keep shop workers safe. Until that happens, our communities will not see the proper community policing they deserve.”
Police Secretary Dame Diana Johnson said last night: ‘In the final year of the Tory government, shoplifting rose to its highest level in 20 years, a 30 per cent increase in just 12 months. By the end of their tenure, more than half the audience said they had never seen a Bobby on the beat, double the figure from 2010.”
She added: ‘This Labor Government wants to refocus community policing and create new powers for police to crack down on the scourge of anti-social behaviour, shoplifting and street crime in our towns and cities.’
Sir Keir Starmer has previously backed The Mail on Sunday’s calls for a crackdown with the End the Shoplifting Epidemic campaign.
Labour’s Crime and Policing Bill, not expected until early next year, will give police stronger powers to keep repeat shoplifters out of city centres. It will also seek to ensure police treat shoplifting more seriously by removing a rule that means police treat theft of goods under £200 less seriously.