The biggest retailers in the UK, including Co-op, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, have agreed to implement new face-scanning technology, which looks to help the police crack down on shoplifting.
The new partnership — named Project Pegasus — has been described as a ‘game-changer’ by police chiefs. It will be ran through their national database, giving law enforcement officers an idea of where shoplifting gangs are operating.
According to The Times, Pegasus is set to receive £600,000 from ten supermarkets including John Lewis, Co-op, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Next.
Shoplifting offences have soared this year, as police have been accused of failing to take the crime seriously.
According to the Office of National Statistics, in the 12 months to March, the police recorded 339,206 cases of shoplifting, but only 48,218 criminals were charged.
The huge spike in shoplifting has been driven largely by organised crime gangs who steal higher value items from supermarkets, such as bottles of alcohol.
Ministers met police chiefs and representatives from leading supermarkets and retailers on Thursday to draft out plans to target shoplifters.
Chris Philp, the policing minister, has tasked police leaders with drawing up a target list of prolific shoplifters to create a national shoplifting database that can be circulated to retailers and police forces across the country.
Philp has asked police to report back within six to eight weeks with a “zero-tolerance plan to target shoplifting”.
John Lewis chairwoman Sharon White recently urged the government to clamp down on increasing levels of theft and introduce tougher legislation.
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The police and crime commissioner for Sussex Katy Bourne , who is the national lead for business and retail crime, has estimated that 20% of offenders account for 80% of shoplifting offences in her county.
She told The Times: “If you make a concerted effort to tackle prolific offenders at a local level, you can have a big impact on reducing crime overall.
“It’ll be a game changer for policing because for the first time ever, policing will get a complete picture across the country of where these gangs are hitting different areas and they’ll have that data and intelligence to be able to put that out to local police forces to go after those gangs,” Bourne added.
Last month, The Co-op recorded over 175,000 incidents of crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour in the first six months of 2023, which equates to almost 1,000 incidents a day.
