London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The number of shoplifting crimes recorded by police in England and Wales has increased to a new 20-year high. A total of 443,995 infractions were logged by forces in the year to March 2024, up 30% from the 342,428 registered in the previous 12 months.
How Have Shoplifting Rates Increased in the Past Year?
The figure is the most elevated since current records started in the year to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which represented the latest increases as notable. Shoplifting levels had already reached a 20-year increase earlier this year, with the latest figures indicating the number of offences recorded has risen even higher.
What Measures Are Proposed to Combat Rising Shoplifting?
The data publicised on Wednesday comes after leading retailers increased concerns about the rising cost of theft, and as the Labour government promised to tackle low-level shoplifting and make attacking a shop worker a specific criminal offence.
The move to form a separate offence follows a long-running campaign from business proprietors amid rising violence against shop workers. Retailers have stated they hope the measures set out last week in the king’s address to parliament will make it more comfortable for police to investigate and prosecute criminals.
How Do Current Shoplifting Figures Compare to Historical Data?
The figures also indicate the number of offences involving stealing from a person stood at 131,453 in 2023-24, up 17% from 112,225 in 2022-23. Knife crime offences registered by police forces in England and Wales in 2023-24 stood at 50,510, up 4% from 48,409 in 2022-23, but below the pre-pandemic level of 51,982 crimes in 2019-20.
How Have Knife Crime and Stalking Offenses Changed?
There was a “notable growth” in the number of robberies concerning a knife or sharp instrument, with 21,226 registered by forces in 2023-24, up 13% from 18,787 in the earlier 12 months, though this is below the 22,727 in 2019-20. Offences concerning possession of an article with a blade or point fell narrowly to 27,470, down 3% from 28,391 in the previous 12 months. This tracks “substantial increases in recent years, which may have been affected by targeted police action to tackle knife crime”, the ONS stated.
The stats on knife crime do not include offences registered by Greater Manchester police due to problems recording data. Police registered a 10% growth to 129,076 offences in stalking, and harassment also rose by 10% to 287,977 offences compared with the previous year.
The report measures the happenings of crime in households the 12 months before the discussion, suggesting the latest survey, carried out in the 12 months to March 2024, mirrors crimes that could have happened as far back as April 2022.
How Is the Labour Government Addressing Shoplifting and Crime?
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, stated the figures revealed a “disgraceful dereliction of the last Tory government on law and order. Shoplifting has shot up to 20-year highs, hitting our local businesses and hurting communities in our towns and cities, yet the number of neighbourhood police on our streets has plummeted, with devastating consequences for public confidence.
“Knife crime, which tears families apart, has risen yet again, and we have seen a steep rise in stalking and harassment offences which disproportionately impact women and girls. We can’t carry on like this,” she said.