The chief constable of Norfolk Police has referred to as for harder and quicker punishments for repeat shoplifters, warning that persistent offenders will not be being deterred by the present system.
Paul Sanford mentioned shoplifting was one of many few crimes within the county that continued to rise, and expressed frustration at delays within the courts.
Talking on BBC Radio Norfolk, Sanford mentioned: “There’s massive delays in our courtroom system and I’ll share my frustration that generally I don’t suppose these persistent offenders are getting the deterrent sentence they want.
“We do have an issue with repeat offenders coming again to shops time and time once more and we do want some concerted effort to deal with them and cease their offending.”
In line with the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics, 6,382 shoplifting offences had been reported to Norfolk Police within the 12 months to June 2025, up from 5,211 within the earlier 12 months.
Sanford revealed that the pressure had just lately handled a person who admitted 23 counts of shoplifting, a lady in Breckland arrested 43 instances since 2022, and a Norwich offender arrested 25 instances prior to now 20 months.
“We’re catching them, we’d like the remainder of the system to catch up,” he mentioned.
Sanford mentioned the federal government’s ongoing sentencing assessment was “critically essential”, arguing that persistent backlogs within the courts had been undermining efforts to curb repeat offending.
“When theft is accompanied by violence, threats or intimidation, we’ll come down arduous,” he added. “However we’d like the courtroom system to maneuver quicker.”
The pressure has been utilizing CCTV as a main supply of proof in shoplifting instances, alongside facial recognition know-how to determine suspects. For probably the most prolific offenders, Norfolk Police has utilized for prison behaviour orders, enabling courts to ban people from particular city centres or retail areas.
Sanford additionally pointed to the resale of stolen items, together with bulk thefts from supermarkets, as a unbroken driver of offending.
Retailers have reported sustained losses from store theft lately, with workers usually going through abuse and intimidation. Sanford mentioned he had the “utmost sympathy” for store staff coping with repeat offenders.
Norfolk Police has suggested retailers to strengthen safety by sustaining seen customer support presence, mapping theft hotspots inside shops, coaching workers to determine suspicious behaviour and making certain store flooring are stored tidy to cut back alternatives for concealment.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice mentioned reforms had been underneath option to pace up justice and strengthen community-based penalties. “We now have new legal guidelines giving harder group restrictions, together with the largest ever growth in tagging and using restriction zones,” they mentioned.
The ministry added that funding and procedural reforms had been being launched to modernise the courts and deal with inefficiencies.
For police forces corresponding to Norfolk, nevertheless, the message is evident: with out swifter sentencing and stronger deterrents, repeat shoplifting is prone to stay a cussed and rising problem on the Excessive Road.
