Metropolitan Police will crackdown on shoplifting offences at Tesco stores on Southgate Road and Kingsland Road in De Beauvoir.
Police officers will now meet with Tesco area management to dispense crime prevention advice and conduct plain-clothed and high-vis patrols in stores, as outlined at a ward meeting on 21 October.
In the past three months, 16 incidents were reported on Southgate Road.
PC Lewis Brooks clarified that while most incidents are recorded, many are unreported by staff, as they did not think it was “in the public interest to report the theft of £10 worth of chocolate”.
Abdi Weheliye, a security guard at Southgate Road Tesco, said there were “three or four” shoplifting incidents on shift only the other day. He believes the issue is that shoplifters know that staff cannot do much to prevent them stealing.
“We can’t touch them,” he explained. “I just press a button that calls all [the] staff and they just watch [the potential thief].”
Mr Weheliye has started to take his break at different times each day to prevent shoplifting from repeating at the same time. He believes there is much more to do before prolific shoplifting is resolved.
A Tesco employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said that it was not the case of how many times per week they experience shoplifting, but “more like how many times a day”. They added that they “can only hope” the police measures will have a positive impact.
PC Brooks said that the shoplifters “don’t show much respect for the justice system”. He added that the Metropolitan Police are working on applying to the court for Criminal Behaviour Orders for repeat offenders.
