London Mayor Sadiq Khan has suggested that a 50% rise in shoplifting in the capital might be because “we have a lot of shops.” This comment came after new figures showed that shoplifting in London has increased dramatically over the past year.
According to the latest data, there were 80,041 shoplifting offences recorded in London between September 2022 and September 2023. This is a big jump from the 53,202 offences recorded the year before. The increase in London is more than double the rise seen across England and Wales as a whole, where shoplifting went up by 22%.
When asked why London is seeing such a sharp rise in shoplifting, Mr. Khan said it was partly because London has a lot of shops and partly because the cost-of-living crisis is hitting people harder in the capital. He explained that as the cost of living goes up, crimes like shoplifting, personal theft, and robbery tend to increase as well. These types of crimes are often called “acquisitive crimes” because they involve taking something that doesn’t belong to you.
However, some people have questioned Mr. Khan’s explanation. While it’s true that London has around 40,000 retail shops, the number of shops actually fell by nearly 400 in the year to June 2023. This means the rise in shoplifting can’t simply be explained by there being more shops.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC), a group that represents retailers, has also released new figures showing that retail crime is at its highest level ever. According to their survey, there were over 20 million incidents of theft in 2023/24, which works out to more than 55,000 thefts every day. This cost retailers £2.2 billion. The survey also found that incidents of violence and abuse against shop workers have gone up, with over 2,000 incidents per day, including 70 incidents involving a weapon.
To tackle the problem, the UK government has announced it will invest an extra £100 million in neighbourhood policing. This is in addition to £100 million announced in December 2023, which is meant to help put 13,000 more police officers on the streets by 2029. The government says this investment is about making sure there is “visible, accessible policing” to help reduce crime.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said that having more police officers on the ground will help tackle anti-social behaviour and the “record-breaking” levels of shoplifting being seen across the country.
