Cost of living blamed for shoplifting surge across Falkirk
There were 1032 shoplifting incidents reported between April 2023 and March this year
The cost of living has been blamed for a surge in reports of shoplifting across Falkirk last year.
The latest Police Performance report presented to Falkirk Council’s Scrutiny Committee today (Tuesday) showed there were 1032 shoplifting incidents reported between April 2023 and March this year.
That was an increase of 32 per cent on the 777 reported between April 2022 and March 2023.
Presenting the report to the Scrutiny Committee, Chief Inspector Alex Hatrick told members that local officers have worked with divisional crime prevention officers, Retailers Against Crime and local businesses “to provide target hardening advice and general crime prevention messaging”.
The report highlights some successes, such as when a spike of thefts from Grangemouth shops earlier this year was ended by a community police officer.
The officer, Constable Porter, spoke to local businesses to identify the offender, who was traced and charged with numerous crimes of theft by shoplifting.
The report also highlighted the success of Operation Christmas in Falkirk Town Centre, where local repeat offenders were also identified and arrested.
Forth Valley Priority Crime Team also helped to arrest two Bulgarian women who were eventually charged with stealing six purses in Falkirk alone.
They were part of an Eastern European Organised Crime Group (OCG), based in Tayside, which was targeting victims across Scotland, choosing mainly elderly victims.
Overall, however, the report shows a drop in the detection rate for theft by shoplifting, which fell from 52.3 per cent to 47.9 per cent.
Theft by housebreaking (including attempts) rose from 232 to 252 in 2023/24 – a rise of 8.6 per cent.