How many shoplifters are caught per day in an average UK supermarket?

[Dappy777]

I saw someone caught today in my local Sainsbury's, and I saw someone caught in the same store last week. I know shoplifting is now an epidemic. Just wondered how many are caught per day in an average store (my local Sainsbury's is massive).

I’ve never seen a shoplifter or seen one caught!

Caught? None. Most stores are told not to accost them.

my daughter saw them daily when she worked in retail. She was told who to look out for and they sometimes used deterrents, such as staff standing at the doors, which would deter shoplifters. Nothing to apprehend the. and wrestle them to the ground though when they’re running off with £500 of nicked clothes. That’s a job for police not 20 year old retail staff with no security/policing background.

For every shoplifter you see doing a big obvious grab though there’ll be loads sneaking the odd extra item. A bar of chocolate up their sleeve, a magazine tucked inside a newspaper they then pay for, the odd item thrown in on a smart shop which isn’t checked.

We tend to get 2 or 3 on a daily basis, some we prevent but we are not allowed to take any risks but if we feel it's safe we will challenge. Other tricks are calling security over the tannoy which makes the nervous ones drop the items and run which is a win for us.

From what I understand, no longer are shop assistants, retail employees, allowed to speak to a person who they have observed shoplifting, never mind accosting them.
That's what the store security people are for, they can apprehend and hold a suspected shoplifter until the police come but that's all they can do.
Kind of sad when you realise that the number one items that are shoplifted are baby formula, and OTC medicines.
Followed of course by items such as meat & groceries, alcohol and coffee, beauty supplies, small electronics etc.

I work in the courts. On our magistrates’ list I’d say there are ten every day. They’re just the ones that are caught. Lots are repeat offenders (200-300 convictions).

It's okay, when digital id comes in, nobody will be able to access shops without having it scanned first and anything you take will be filmed and then the amount taken from your bank account.

I do find it amusing people get so worked up regarding digital ID, but don't realise the police already have taken all the passport photos.

It won't be coming in and it won't be used for shopping. Last week it was for teenagers and the week before that for people in work.

On holiday in Edinburgh recently. Young lad was taking stuff from the shelves and passing to his friend who was pocketing it. I just stood there totally gobsmacked. He turned and saw me watching him. Just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. I reported him to a staff member and they just said nothing we can do.

I’ve seen quite a few at my local M&S. there was a guy the other morning who just strolled in, emptied the shelf of a load of steaks into a bag and strolled out again, no shop assistants around, I finally found one and me and another customer told him, he was not bothered at all and just shrugged, it’s a daily occurrence in that store it seems, they have no security on the door and despite the steaks being alarmed none of them went off.

Dc has a weekend job at a highstreet store in a Northern town and every shift has at least one shoplifter but has only seen one arrest (was someone who repeatedly shop liffted).

I also saw a guy stroll into a Greggs, empty the fridge and then just walk out again, it’s so brazen these days no one seems bothered about stopping them!

We deter them - multiple them - daily. There are also the ones we don't deter as well as we don't see them. It is what it is. We have a budget for shrink. We have blown it already. And thats with us following people, confronting people, wearing cameras, calling mall security Every. Single. Damn. Day.
I have a few regular shoplifters who now come in and banter with us. They shake our hands and fist bump us and tell us they respect us too much to steal from us now. We don't believe them and we call the shoplifter alert every time they walk in and stand with them until they leave. And will continue to do so. The one time I don't, will be the time that half the stock in the shop will walk out with them.

I don’t know the answer to your question but I can say that my local (idiotic) MP actually posted something quite good on social media today. He said the police had done a raid on Cash Converters and arrested three people for shoplifting and seized loads of stolen goods from the shop.

We (shop assistants) aren't allowed to tackle them in any way. Customers come and tell us that they've seen X stealing, but there's absolutely nothing we can do (our shop doesn't even have any security staff, we're very rural). What we do is ban anyone who is seen repeat stealing, but our biggest offenders are schoolkids, who seem to regard it as a fun activity when the shop is busy.

Nobody ever thinks it's their kid, but it almost certainly is - a Freddo frog here and there and a packet of strawberry laces if they don't get shouted at. When they aren't stopped or caught, that is when they tend to start pushing it and move to bigger things. We can see them on camera though, and when it escalates, that is when A Word is had by our big, tattooed and very scary store manager.

Do supermarkets really have someone watching security cameras at all times?

IME and from what ive read false accusations are rife.

Got any sources for that?

Where I am in Aus, Security guards at the door, can’t do a thing to stop them
Walk right out the door with full trolley

What do you mean by 'the police already have taken all the passport photos'?

Perfect. I’d much prefer to live in a society with a lower crime rate and accountability.

Never seen it

The government aren't going to admit to it, but once the cbdc is introduced it's a natural step. Amazon shops already have this system, although I don't know if their grocery shops are still open in London. Ds went to one and his bankcard was scanned then he was billed on leaving the store.

This digital id is going to be linked to a lot more than people realise.