Ministerial Advisory Group for Victims of Retail Crime - Final Report on Shoplifting [pdf, 390 KB]
...to enforcement, the majority go no further than a Police warning. It is only in rare instances that shoplifting charges are pursued in court, and then usually only as an ancillary to a more serious offence. 3. This is primarily driven by Police resourcing. Shoplifting is generally a low priority, meaning that cases are less likely to be responded to or investigated, which in turn affects retailers’ willingness to report. 4. Retailers have told us that Police’s capacity to respon...