Cambs Police up efforts to crackdown on shoplifting this Christmas
The Force is carrying out dedicated patrols on highstreets
Cambridgeshire Police says it's "stepped up" efforts to prevent any potential increase in shoplifting over the festive period, by working closely with retailers and carrying out dedicated patrols.
Sgt Keven Misik says the force has a team ready to respond to repeat offenders, but there's a simple trick for retail staff to prevent the problem happening themselves:
"People who are committing shoplifting, they're wanting to remain anonymous. So, shop owners, if they see somebody acting suspiciously, a quick conversation with them makes people less likely to commit that act of theft."
Police in Surrey say they've seen an increase in shoplifting by 26% over the last 12 months, and there are fears more people are turning to stealing in the run up to Christmas, but Sgt Misik's not anticipating an extraordinary problem in Cambridgeshire this year:
"We have a spree offender team who deal with people who commit a lot of offences quickly. We are on top of the idea of repeat shoplifting and we understand the effect it has on people. We work really hard to deal with offenders quickly."
He added: "We already work with a lot of retailers to help them understand the importance of reporting shoplifting, making sure their stock is secure - we do that all year round."
"We have stepped that up over Christmas, and we're running dedicated patrols across the area."