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04
Sept
Shoplifting victim dismisses offer of police visit to his premises as a 'PR exercise'
The owner of a Harrogate business that lost over £1,000 worth of goods to shoplifters at the weekend has turned down an offer of a police visit to his premises, dismissing it as a “PR exercise”.
As the Stray Ferret reported on Monday, Tim Ward of antiques shop 27 West Park called 999 as soon as he found out about the theft, which was captured on the shop’s security cameras.
Searching the surrounding area, he found the two suspects waiting for a bus to Leeds, even as he was on the phone to a police call handler.
But North Yorkshire Police declined to intervene directly, putting out an observation – a police alert – for the pair instead.
We asked the force for information about how it handled the incident.
Chief Inspector Ryan Chapman, North Yorkshire Police’s lead officer for business and retail crime, told us:
When incidents are reported to us, we assess all the information provided to ensure we get help quickest to those who need it most.
Officers in North Yorkshire attend reports of retail crimes very frequently. The way we respond depends on a number of factors including risk to public safety, so we use a policy for responding to shoplifting which is based on national policy.
This phonecall [from Mr Ward] has been reviewed by managers in our control room to ensure the correct process was followed. While it had recently happened, the suspects were no longer in the shop or surrounding area when the call was made and advice was given so that the incident could be fully investigated.
However, we understand the significant impact retail crime has on business owners and staff and we’d like to offer the business a visit from a police officer in person to discuss the incident, listen to their concerns and see if there is anything further we can do at this stage to support them, in addition to investigating the incident.
27 West Park in Harrogate.
At the time of writing, North Yorkshire Police had not yet made the offer of a visit to Mr Ward directly, but when we told him of it, Mr Ward said:
That’s very nice of them, but they’re entirely incorrect, because I was watching [the shoplifters] from the other side of the roundabout when I was on the phone to police – and I told that to the operator.
Lisa Hawksworth, who co-owns 27 West Park, added:
They knew [the shoplifters] were on the 36 bus, so why didn’t an officer just stop it?
Mr Ward continued:
They had their moment, and they didn’t act. They could talk to us in the shop all day, but it wouldn’t help them catch the people who did it.
So I think on this occasion, we’ll have to say thank you very much, but we don’t feel there’s anything more they can do at this stage.
Unless they can come up with anything constructive to help catch the people who did it, this is frankly just a PR exercise, when they should be fulfilling their role as thieftakers.
The two suspects, a man and a woman, are believed to have stolen a bust of Jesus, some church candlesticks and about £400 worth of silverware – a haul valued at more than £1,000.
Police officers on the beat in Harrogate town centre.
The Stray Ferret also asked North Yorkshire Police about rumours circulating among shop staff in Harrogate that the police do not investigate retail thefts below the value of £200.
Ch Insp Chapman said:
We investigate all reported retail thefts regardless of value, which does result in a high detection rate for shoplifting in North Yorkshire.
In the Harrogate policing district, two out of three shop thefts reported to us this year have resulted in a positive outcome, such as someone being identified, arrested and taken to court.
This is largely thanks to some significant steps we’ve made recently. Each area of North Yorkshire including Harrogate now has dedicated retail crime officers who work closely with businesses, resulting in higher arrest rates.
Last year we arrested more than 800 suspects for retail theft, nearly doubling the number of arrests from the previous year.
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