Silent crime in Sunderland - Chester Road shoplifters' response to scourge of shoplifting - video Dailymotion

Sunderland Echo

Sunderland Echo reporter Neil Fatkin finds out about a business watch group set up in the city's Chester Road in response to shoplifting.

Transcript

00:00Shoplifting is a massive problem with any retail premises these days, but Chester Road has been

00:05a really, really good example about that. I know from the Business Watch Group how much

00:10shoplifting goes on, and it's a daily occurrence. There's very little that retailers can do without

00:17actually getting physically involved. The shoplifters know this. They tend to go into a

00:22shop. They tend to steal something. Then once they've done that, they know that they can just

00:28simply walk out without being challenged. Retailers are unwilling to challenge them

00:34because of the physical competition and the potential consequences of that.

00:38They seem to work in gangs now. You'll have one who'll stand at the door and hold the door open

00:43while the other one comes in and grabs a handful of toilet rolls and charges at the door.

00:48Then, obviously, you get them. One will stand on the corner, and one will come in and walk

00:53the shop to see who's in work that day. He'll go out, and then two months later,

00:58his mate will come in, and he'll come around the shop as well. There's a lot of working in

01:03gangs at the moment as well. Toilet rolls was a big thing not long back, like the big 18-packs.

01:07They seem to stream in and collect toilet rolls.

01:09Probably. They make a lot of money back on toilet rolls. Coffee. Coffee is a good one.

01:14Anything they make money on, really. Do you know what I mean?

01:18I mean, you can tell if they're pinching for themselves because they'll just pinch, say,

01:21a tin of beans or something like that. You get certain ones, everyone knows who they are,

01:26and they'll just come in, robbing loads of toilet rolls. I mean, they took about £40

01:30worth there in the space of a week not long back. One of them was very, very angry, and

01:35I caught him pinching. He was going to see what he said. He was going to burn my house down

01:38and everything. That's something you want to hear when you've got a daughter living in the house.

01:44My boss, he was someone who tried to slap him with a bag of chips one time. You get spells where

01:51they'll just be constant for a week, and then you just know when they're getting blocked up,

01:55because they'll be quiet for a couple of weeks, and then after that,

01:57then all of a sudden, they're back on the scene, and causing havoc again.

02:02So when these people are about, it's tend to be the same people who come back and repeat?

02:05Oh, yeah, definitely. That's why we've got the page, so we can put it on, and

02:11let everyone know such and such is on the street, so just get a heads up on them.

02:16But if it's the same people, then they'll be in a few, three times every week, but you can

02:21normally set your watch by them, because they're normally out and about at the same time.

02:24It's normally at lunchtime, because if we're busy with the people, then that's when they can sneak

02:28in without being spotted, because obviously, if I spot them straight away, I'll go and say,

02:32oh, you can't come in, you're barred. But if then we're busy, they'll be sneaking in with,

02:36say, the hospital staff, because we're quite busy at lunchtimes with people on breaks and that.

02:41When this does happen, do you contact the police each time?

02:44No.

02:44Is there a reason of it?

02:46We're just like, it's just a waste of time, because they expect you to do everything,

02:50like we need to fill all the paperwork in, and we need to go and take it to the police station,

02:54and it's like, more hassle than what it's worth.

02:57I'm guessing you have these people caught on CCTV as well, yeah?

03:02In spite of that, you've still got no faith that you'll get these people caught?

03:06No, definitely not. I mean, SPA gets them in all the time, and you know what happens to them.

03:10They just pretty much give you a crime number, and that's it, and nothing else.

03:14When you've got an interview, you know, check the CCTV, nothing else.

03:17The only time the police have ever come here is when we got burgled a few years back.

03:22You don't feel safe. That's why half the time, if they come in and say, oh,

03:27I'm not saying that with him.

03:35Obviously, you speak to all the traders on the street.

03:37You've already mentioned one of the shoppers out there.

03:42Is this a common feeling amongst traders on the street,

03:45or is it just something you've experienced? Do all the traders say a similar thing?

03:48Oh, it's all the same. We all talk, we all get on, we all know each other and that.

03:54You're like a group of any sort?

03:56Yeah, we've got a group on Nigel's set up.

03:58With having a business on Chester Road, we saw there was numerous different problems,

04:03crime problems on the street with mainly with shoplifting,

04:06but also quite a bit of anti-social behaviour.

04:09And based on my previous background as an ex-senior trainer for Northumbria Police,

04:16specialising in crime prevention, I felt that I could give some sort of

04:21help to the retailers in the area by setting up a business watch.

04:24So obviously, if I get a shoplifter in, I'll get a picture of them and send them,

04:28like put on the group chat and say, watch out for this guy or woman.

04:32How does anyone know who this is?

04:34You've set up this chat, you've sent them photographs.

04:36So in many ways, as traders, do you feel you have to deal with this yourself?

04:39Oh, definitely, 100%. All it would need was just a couple of placements,

04:44walk them down the street, like twice a day or something, or lunchtimes or business times.

04:48And then it would just stop them coming on the street.

04:50How often do you see that happen?

04:51Never.

04:52Literally never?

04:53Let's say like when it gets nice, they say one community officer and that's it.

04:58I think there's a combination.

04:59I know when the retail crime, the shoplifting gets reported to the police,

05:03there's quite a bit of paperwork for the retailer to fill in.

05:06And the shoplifting is so prevalent that it takes the retailer quite a bit of time

05:11to continually fill in the papers.

05:14I know some of the comments of the retailers in the area is that

05:19when they fill the paperwork in, nothing seems to happen.

05:22And I think there's a bit of an apathetic opinion about that.

05:30Conversely, when you speak to the police, they will say the opposite.

05:33They say, well, unless they fill it in, we can't do anything about it.

05:36And I know from my previous background, it's very important to report each incident

05:42because without the details of each incident and the police not knowing about it,

05:48the police don't really understand the depth of the problem.

05:52And one of the things I've tried to do as a business watch is try and encourage

05:55all retailers to report every instance.

05:58But I know that's simply not happening because of the amount of paperwork

06:02that a report would then involve.

06:03So a bit of a vicious circle, unfortunately.

06:06And again, in the last year, how many times would you say you've been?

06:09So far this year?

06:10Yeah.

06:11Oh, yeah.

06:13There's the shoplifting.

06:15I don't know, about 50 somewhat.

06:17That's basically more than once a week.

06:20We won the other day.

06:20I thought it was an R8 lad and then found a box of coffee I dumped on the shelf

06:24where I didn't know the sash is.

06:27So it's like even people that you think you can trust, they're like, dang it, as well.

06:31Is that a technique people use?

06:32They'll come to you for everything?

06:33Oh, definitely.

06:34They get to know you and then you just say something like on the shelf

06:37and you look at the camera to see how it got there.

06:39And then you see him doing it.

06:41And you're thinking, if that's the first time I've caught him,

06:43how many times has he done it before that?

06:45The police are vastly under-resourced these days.

06:48There's absolutely no doubt about it.

06:54Police on the street isn't necessarily the answer.

06:56I mean, everybody talks about police on the street.

06:58But studies show that extra police on the street was that might give public reassurance.

07:05It doesn't actually do very much in terms of solving and preventing crime.

07:10But in general terms, the police are vastly under-resourced.

07:13And many years ago, when I first started with Northumbria Police,

07:18this situation wouldn't be allowed to happen.

07:20And I think the crime of shoplifting has been diluted.

07:24And it doesn't help that there was the £200 limit that was put on shoplifting.

07:30And if it was below that, it wasn't seen as such a serious offence.

07:33And in my personal opinion, I think that was a big mistake.

07:36Well, like the pampered in jail, they may need to be punished more.

07:41Because if they were punished more, then they wouldn't come out and do it again, would they?

07:45Because within a week or so, they'll be back out on the road as soon as they're out.

07:49Do you think it needs more priority based on shoplifting?

07:52Oh, definitely.

07:52Not just because of the shoplifting, it's because of the violence that the shoplifters bring.

Silent crime in Sunderland - Chester Road shoplifters' response to scourge of shoplifting

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended