Retailers need to do better to tackle shoplifting, says Met chief

In the year leading up to June 2025, there were just under 530,000 recorded instances of shoplifting across England and Wales, marking a 13% increase compared to the previous year.

Rowley said only 40% of CCTV images of retail offenders could be recognised against databases of previously arrested individuals, strongly advocating for the use of facial recognition technology.

He also claimed to have additional evidence of corrupt security personnel assisting shoplifting gangs, which led to CCTV footage being deleted and authorities being refused cooperation. Some stores would also not give staff time off to provide witness statements or give evidence in court.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Rowley said: “The retail sector, a couple of years ago, was right to be cross with policing across the country.”

“In London, over the last year or so, we’ve really doubled down on it. We’re making a lot of progress, but I need to challenge back now to the retail sector.”

He said the recent Met crackdown on shoplifting has slowed the rapid rise in store thefts, with overall cases down 4.4% from April to December this year.

“We’re stepping up. [Retailers] now need to as well.”

The highest shoplifting rates in the UK were recorded in Northampton and Kensington and Chelsea, each with over 16.79 offences per 1000 people.

A 2024 study by the British Retail Consortium estimated that there were 20 million shoplifting incidents, costing retailers £2.2bn annually, and indicated a reporting rate of under 3%.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “With little faith in police attendance, it is no wonder criminals feel they have a licence to steal, threaten, assault and abuse. Retailers are spending more than ever, but they cannot prevent crime alone.”

“We owe it to the 3 million hard-working people in retail to bring the epidemic of crime to heel.”