Croydon shop owners say calling the police is a ‘waste of time’ as shoplifting soars

Retail staff in a Croydon high street say shoplifting is worse than it’s ever been and they no longer bother calling police because they feel like nothing will be done.

Workers in a number of shops along Norbury High Street have expressed their concerns that shoplifting is becoming commonplace.

Chintal Patel works at Norbury DIY, a family-run hardware shop that has been on the high street for the past 34 years.

He said: “Thieves know that they can’t be done for anything under £200, so they just take whatever they can. What hurts the most is that staff members get told off by their bosses for trying to stop them.

“You’ve got security but they can’t do anything, and because of that you’re just inviting them to come in and take what they want.”

While Mr Patel said he has been fortunate to avoid the shoplifting spike, the same cannot be said for Norbury’s Co-op across the road.

A staff member, who asked not to be named, said shoplifting was up 70 per cent in the store from last year. He added that the store had four separate incidents of shoplifting just last week.

He said: “They mainly go for wine as that’s the most expensive thing they can get that’s not behind the counter.

“It’s so frustrating because we have security and staff in the shops at all times, but they can’t do anything about it as they’re told they’re not allowed to apprehend the shoplifter. One time one of our staff members got hit over the head with an ice cream tub when a shoplifter came in.”

He believes the cost-of-living crisis has driven some people toward shoplifting as a way to make ends meet. But he also said that current sentencing does not act as an effective deterrent.

Under the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, ‘low-value shoplifting’ of goods under the value of £200 can only attract a maximum sentence of six months in custody. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the effect of this legislation has been to ‘deprioritise it in the eyes of police’.

This legislation has been called the ‘shoplifter’s charter’ by Labour and it is expected that they will reverse the 2014 act and replace it with harsher penalties for those who steal goods under the value of £200.

Rafiullah Miakheil, of the A One Household shop, has experienced the absence of policing first-hand.

He said: “It’s a waste of time to call the police. Even when they do come they can’t do anything. They don’t even ask for the CCTV footage.

“Then they say ‘do you want to take them to court’, and I don’t think it’s worth it for 10 or 15 pounds.”

Mr Miakheil believes Norbury is not alone when facing this trend. He said: “We have a shop in Sydenham as well, it’s the same thing there.”

Some of the shop workers also suggested this spike in crime was symptomatic of a general sense of the decline on the high street. They pointed to several shop closures, including the imminent closure of Norbury’s last bank branch as another reason for concern.

A spokesperson for the Met said: “Our New Met for London Plan is involving Londoners to give them a say in how their areas are policed. As part of this work, we are collaborating with business and retail leads right across London to identify what matters to them, including the safety of shop-based workers and shoplifting.

“While it is not realistic for the Met to respond to every case of shoplifting in London due to demand, where a crime is being committed, a suspect is on the scene, and the situation has or is likely to become heated or violent, our call handlers will assess this and seek to despatch officers where appropriate.

“A London-wide roll-out of Op Retail is now in place. This provides consistency and confidence for retailers to report crimes.

Pictured top: Rafiullah Miakheil of A One Household shop in Norbury (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)