Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper vows to resolve shoplifting ‘epidemic’ during Derbyshire visit

Shoplifting is up by 25% across the country, according to the latest police figures, and on a visit to Derbyshire, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper vowed to reduce the rate by increasing the number of bobbies on the beat and reversing the Government’s decision to downgrade the legal response to shoplifting. Derby and Chesterfield topped the list of shoplifting crime figures in the county.

In 2014, the Government downgraded the stealing of goods worth less than £200 to a summary offence in almost all cases, often punishable by a feeble £70 fine. Shoplifters who plead guilty can pay their fines by post without even having to appear in court.

Speaking to Derbyshire Live while visiting Buxton in High Peak, where there was a 22% increase in shoplifting, Ms Cooper said: “Talking to shop owners here in Buxton, I am being told they are being targeted by the same people over and over again, many in organised gangs.

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“Shoplifting has become an epidemic and with no real deterrent for offences under £200 but which soon mounts up if the crime is repeated each day at the same place or at different places in one day. Offenders need to be banned from entering shops. Even losing £100 in stolen goods can be a lot to some small shops.”

Ms Cooper said that if Labour come to power after the next General Election, they would boost town centre police patrols with named police officers to crack down on shoplifting and attacks on those working in retail, with a specific offence of assault against retail workers to help tackle those who are violent towards shop workers.

She said: “We want people to feel safe on their streets and to be able to speak to a police officer or PCSO if there is a problem. We want communities to work with the police and be the eyes and ears on the ground.

“It won’t matter if it is a village, a town like Buxton or a city like Derby. We are getting tough with those who blight our towns, with new Respect Orders for repeat adult offenders, powers to ban repeat offenders from town centres and to stamp out public drinking and drug use. Every local area will have a dedicated lead focused specifically on tackling anti-social behaviour.

“The Conservatives have let the gangs fuelling this crime to take hold in our towns and high streets, while bringing in laws that make it harder to take action on shoplifting and cutting 10,000 neighbourhood police from the streets.”

Ms Cooper was accompanied on her visit by the Parliamentary candidate for High Peak, Jon Pearce, who added: “On the doorstep, people tell me they want to see more police on the streets. With more local officers and PCSOs and guaranteed town centre patrols with tougher powers, we’ll make our town centres safer for shoppers and shopkeepers.”

Hyperlocal crime data shows that more shoplifters visited the “Cathedral Quarter and California” area in Derby than anywhere else in Derbyshire last year, with 368 crimes recorded – a 45% increase on the previous year. That was followed by “Central Chesterfield and Stonegravels” (295 crimes) and then “Long Eaton Town” in Erewash (279).

But those areas are all main shopping zones that attract the most visitors each day – along with higher numbers of opportunistic thieves. A comparison of the number of stores in each area and the rate of theft per 10 shops shows that Sinfin in Derby suffers the most from shoplifting.

There were 141 crimes in that neighbourhood last year. That is the equivalent of about 47 shoplifting offences for every 10 shops, the highest rate in Derbyshire.

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