Police are dealing with a new type of shoplifter - ‘everyday people’ who just need to eat

Wednesday, 15 July 2026

A year ago, Sergeant Melissa Shaw’s retail crime team was set up to curb retail theft in Christchurch.

Shaw expected to deal mainly with drug addicts who repeatedly steal to fund their next hit. And there have been those.

But then came the surprise: A growing cohort of thieves who were not drug addicts, not kleptomaniacs, not youths.

They were parents and elderly people with no criminal histories, without the money to keep up with rising living costs, who stole food and clothing for themselves and their families.

Sergeant Melissa Shaw is shocked by the number of retail crime offenders who are first-time shoplifters.

“It’s just more of a shock. Everyday people are now doing this,” Shaw said.

Many first-time offenders told police they had turned to shoplifting because of the rising cost of living. One young man she arrested simply told her: “I’m just hungry.” He said he had no other way to eat.

One woman Shaw arrested, who had been through the system several times, stole $30 worth of food. She was living in poverty, unemployed, lacked education and was a carer for her disabled brother.

Elderly people and parents are part of a rising cohort of shoplifters across Christchurch. (File photo)

Shaw felt sorry for her and put her on an alternative resolution path, but acknowledged people needed to be held to account regardless of their circumstances.

The annual cost of retail crime across the country is about $2.6 billion, according to Retail NZ, but almost 40% of retail crimes in 2024 were not reported to police.

Shaw, and her team of four officers — who hail from the Aranui Neighbourhood Policing Team — joined the team as a trial, which became permanent in April.

Senior Constable Hayden Wells displays the Auror Frontline app, which is used to report and investigate retail crime.

In the last year they have trespassed more than 300 people from stores, arrested more than 270 people, and prosecuted almost 200 on more than 1100 charges.

The team deals with everything from shoplifting and assaults to people taking photographs in changing rooms. Shaw said she was seeing more stealing food from supermarkets and clothes from stores as cost-of-living pressures intensified.

Petrol and diesel prices increased by 28% and 76% respectively in the year to May, according to Stats NZ. Food prices rose 3.2% over the same period, with meat, poultry and fish recording the biggest increase at almost 7%.

New World Ilam store manager Paul Stewart says the Retail Crime Team is “so helpful”.

Before the Retail Crime Team was established, relationships between retailers and police were limited, with businesses unsure how they to report offending for the best possible chance of a conviction.

Now, large retailers across the city, including the Briscoe Group, Foodstuffs South Island, Chemist Warehouse, Cotton On, and Z Energy, use the retail crime intelligence and loss prevention platform Auror, allowing standardised reporting and a direct line to Shaw’s team.

Small retailers were less likely to use the platform because of the subscription cost, Shaw said.

In the last month, more than $130,000 worth of goods was reported stolen through Auror. About $70,000 of that was shoplifted, and about $40,000 was petrol drive-offs. About $35,000 worth of the goods were recovered.

From left, Constable Taylor Hall,Shaw and Wells, of Christchurch’s retail crime unit, check for theft updates.

Paul Stewart, who has managed New World Ilam for 15 years, said the retail team was making a difference.

“The communication between retail and police is so much better,” he said.

The top 10% of offenders are responsible for almost 60% of retail crime, Auror vice-president of global law enforcement partnerships Nick McDonnell said.

Retail crime reports of violent and threatening behaviour had dropped by about 10% this year, McDonnell said, which he attributed to partnerships between police and retailers through Auror.