Shabana Mahmood’s commitment to improve community policing and tackle retail crime is welcomed by Usdaw

As part of her address to delegates in Liverpool, Shabana Mahmood said: “I know it does not feel like things are getting better in many communities across our country. Where crimes like shoplifting and anti-social behaviour, which tear at the fabric of a local community, seem to be committed without consequence. So, it is right that we focus on neighbourhood policing, with 3,000 more neighbourhood officers by 2026. We must reform policing to ensure that forces are able to focus their efforts on the crimes the public care about the most, and to rebuild confidence in our forces, we must prove the impact that good policing can have on a local area.

“This year, forces across the country led a “Summer of Action”, tackling street-level crime in 600 locations. This saw more visible police patrols, more undercover operations, more fines, more protective orders and more arrests. On the back of that success, this year we will launch a new ‘Winter of Action’. Forces across the country, in partnership with local businesses, will target shoplifters and anti-social behaviour during the busiest weeks for all retailers. Once again, we will reach hundreds of locations – and tackle the offending that wreaks havoc on our high streets. 

“I am a rare Home Secretary, perhaps the only one whose first job was behind the till in my parents’ corner shop. I know there’s nothing “low-level” about shoplifting. I know what it feels like to keep a cricket bat behind the counter, just in case, and so I know, better than most, that when we get tough and tackle crime like this, we bring communities together. Safety is a precondition of the open, tolerant, generous country that we want to be.”

Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary says: “We welcome the new Home Secretary’s commitment to tackle growing retail crime, and we know she understands the personal impact of theft from shops because of her own experiences as a young shopworker. We are very pleased that Labour is increasing police spending power in real terms, along with introducing the Crime and Policing Bill to combat the growing problem of retail crime, theft from shops and the abuse of retail staff.

“We now look forward to a much-needed protection of retail workers’ law; ending the indefensible £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters, which has effectively become an open invitation to retail criminals; and Criminal Behaviour Orders for offenders. It is our hope that these new measures will help give retail workers the respect they deserve.”