Shoplifters walking free because ‘stores won’t hand over CCTV to police’

The UK has been grappling with a shoplifting epidemic for years as the cost-of-living increases and offences soar.

Shoplifting incidents rose 20% year-on-year to 2024, reaching the highest level since records began, according to official figures, and in 2025, soared another 5%.

Now, a Metropolitan Police chief has said shoplifters are escaping justice because shopkeepers aren’t handing over CCTV evidence to police.

The Met Police reports that around 5.9% of thefts recorded led to a charge as of March 2025.

Chief Inspector Rav Pathania, the head of business crime, revealed why: ‘It’s not just the Met – the problem is country-wide. We don’t always get digital evidence back from the retailers. We request CCTV, body-worn video footage, and statements from the retailers, but we don’t always get that back.

‘So when we’re trying to solve more crimes, the way we solve them is by getting evidence. 

‘So last year, for example, in approximately 80 per cent of our crimes, we never got CCTV – and so it’s really difficult to investigate a crime where you don’t have the digital evidence.’

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley also placed the blame on shops, who told the Home Affairs Committee in February that shopkeepers need to ‘do better’.

He said: ‘We encourage them all to report it, and the good stores have got really good security regimes and report it and help us out in ways that I’ll come to in a moment. Some stores don’t.

‘Some of them don’t report anything, if we go there they don’t give us the CCTV of the crime, they won’t give us any statements, they don’t give their staff time to give statements, and they don’t pay their staff to go to court to give evidence.’

Larger chain stores are also making moves to protect their products from theft.

Batteries, razor blades and perfumes are easy for gangs to sell on the black market, so supermarket bosses have been thinking up ways to make customers pay for ‘high-theft’ items before gaining access to them.

A spokesman for Asda, which is trialling a vending machine, said: ‘We continually explore new ideas which may help to improve our customers’ and colleagues’ experiences whilst in our stores.

‘However, there are no immediate plans to install new vending machines for any products in our stores, whilst a trial in our Ashton store is ongoing.’

But even those who try to stop the thieves are sometimes given the short end of the stick. Last week, a Waitrose employee of 17 years was sacked after he stopped a shoplifter from running out with a big bunch of stolen Easter eggs.

Walker Smith, a shop assistant at a Waitrose branch in Clapham Junction, south London, approached the thief despite the company telling staff not to.

Walker spotted the shoplifter, who he said was a repeat offender, and grabbed his bag with the chocolate treats.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.