Criminals 'more organised and aggressive' as shoplifting surges

Friday, 26 July 2019

Shoplifting is on the rise and few thefts are committed out of desperation, Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford says.

Shoplifting is on the rise and thieves are becoming more aggressive, the head of the retail association says.

Research released on Thursday showed in-store theft was at 'crisis point' in Australia and New Zealand, costing retailers more than $3 billion a year.

Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford said retail theft was becoming increasingly organised and criminals were getting more aggressive.

'Retailers are doing what they can to protect their products and staff,' he said.

* 29,000 retail thefts just tip of the iceberg: Retail NZ

Retail NZ boss Greg Harford says business are working together to tackle crime.

* Big brother is watching: Do you care?**

'That might be installing more cameras, having more security staff or fixing design issues with stores to make sure there aren't blind spots.'

Harford said few retail thefts would be committed out of desperation and most thieves were being opportunistic or stealing to order.

Infant formula is a popular target for shoplifters.

'It's a very organised business and they're looking for high-value items.'

The sector was spending about $500 million a year on deterring criminal behaviour and businesses were pulling together to prevent crime, he said.

'There's a lot of information sharing between retailers, a lot of co-operation on non-competitive issues like theft.'

However, he believed there was a bigger social issue at the heart of the problem and government had a key role to play in reducing retail crime.

'There needs to be a civics education programme to teach people that no matter what you're stealing, no matter who you're stealing from, it's not OK.'

Shoplifting accounted for 57 per cent of loses in the report, with clothing, mobile phones and cosmetics among the most frequently stolen items.

At supermarkets, face creams, infant formula and meat were popular targets.

A spokeswoman for Countdown said the vast majority of its customers were honest but theft was an unfortunate reality of retail from time to time.

'We have a number of security measures in place to detect and prevent shoplifting,' she said.

'These include CCTV, security tags on certain items, supervisors at check-outs and security guards at a number of stores.'

Foodstuffs, which operates Pak N Save and New World supermarkets, declined to comment on thefts from its stores.

Crime prevention software service Auror was also tight-lipped, saying its clients had recently requested information be kept private.