Well, by outlaws, we mean those not awfully welcome in London’s shops. *Retail criminals*. Shoplifters, thieves, hustlers, beggars, general ne’er-do-wells, momes and breed-bates. A new report indicates that business crime is up, and whilst we are sure that the figures include everything from major embezzlement to illicit use of the photo-copier, what they’re really talking about here is crimes against the shopkeeper. Mostly theft. The topic has been in the news quite a lot this year: it’s the recession you see. Lack of spondulicks can make a man (or woman) desperate. The Association of Convenience Stores has asked for a bit more of a concerted effort to combat shop crime: the current system of issuing ‘Public Notice Disorder’ tickets for the thieving felons is generally perceived as an insult.. As London is the joint shoplifting capital of the country, with help from our friend the shopkeeper, we thought we’d take a closer look at the culprits. So meet:
- The Eastern European beggar: there are a hard core of these who are professional steamers, entering a shop all together and scattering, emptying shelves into their grubby apron pockets as they go. The only real solution is to bar them (yeah, like that’ll be easy) or get to the door before they get in and lock it. Calling the police a few times does help – they really don’t like the police.
In London now most small shops have some sort of CCTV as a deterrent – and this really does help. Panic buttons and alarms are all good. Also, crime can to a certain extent be designed out of a shop. Many small shops occlude their windows with small ads, which is an invitation to crims – if the shopkeeper and his till are well lit and visible near the window, they are less likely to be the target of premeditated theft. Best toy to come out of the security sector in many years is the Alert Box, which many councils in London have trialed with great success. It consists of a series of alarm boxes placed in up to 20 local businesses: first sign of trouble, the shopkeeper can hit his red button and his neighbours all come running. Or alternatively simply send a warning to say that there are yobs or thieves abroad. Brill. Some traders have even set up a code to warn of traffic wardens operating in the area.
But yeah, basically, London retailers do need more help. Of all sorts. At the moment most big stores have a blanket policy of prosecution, which doesn’t work. And most small shops are forced to let thieves go with a clip round the ear: locking the door and asking a shoplifter to wait ’til the police arrive just doesn’t happen. More coppers on the beat. A greater deterrent when caught. And smiles. We reckon you should make a point of smiling at your pet shopkeeper this week to cheer him up.
Shoplifter by charbel.akhras via the Londonist flickr pool
