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<p>The UK Government continues to work closely with retail businesses, security representatives,
trade associations and policing through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG)
to ensure the response to crimes, such as shoplifting, is as robust as it can be.</p><p>
</p><p>Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 32% in
the 12 months leading to September 2023 in Wales and England. However, the number
of people charged with shoplifting offences in the same period rose by 34%, suggesting
that we are now seeing a more robust response.</p><p> </p><p>We have also taken other
significant steps to improve the police response to retail crime.</p><p> </p><p>October
2023 saw the publication of the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Retail Crime Action
Plan. The plan includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene
where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained
by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by
police personnel, showing the Government commitment to tackling this issue. Additionally,
where CCTV or other digital images are secured, police will run this through the Police
National Database as standard using facial recognition technology to further aid efforts
to identify prolific offenders or potentially dangerous individuals.</p><p> </p><p>In
addition, October 2023 also saw the launch of Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership
that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with
policing to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and
identify more offenders. This will include development of a new information-sharing
platform and training for retailers.</p>
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