Britain is in the grip of a retail crime frenzy

In the Marks & Spencer foodhall near where I live, it’s become a common sight: the duty manager chasing a shoplifter down the street. Criminals have “freedom to loot”, said Co-op, with “rampant levels of out-of-control crime predominantly committed by repeat and prolific offenders, with drug or alcohol addictions and local organised criminal gangs among the main drivers”. Matt Hood, Co-op Food managing director, said: “I have seen some horrific incidents of brazen and violent theft in our stores, where my store colleagues feel scared and threatened. We need to make sure no one gets hurt; something needs to change.” Another Co-op store manager, Yasmin, in northwest London, said: “The gangs come with bags and sacks to steal. The criminals know the police can’t come; they say they haven’t enough officers.” Co-op spends heavily on combating crime, investing more than £200m in recent years – four times the average sector expenditure per store on security and safety measures – on CCTV, body cams, communication headsets for front-line assistants, undercover and uniformed guards, SmartWater, GPS tracked security cases and “dummy” packaging on shelves.