Sir Mark Rowley has urged retailers to do more to help police tackle soaring rates of shoplifting across Britain.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has claimed there is evidence that some shop security staff are working with organised shoplifting gangs to target retailers.
Sir Mark told The Telegraph that some retailers are refusing to provide CCTV footage or photos of shoplifters, which could help police use facial recognition to identify and arrest offenders.
He also said some retailers are preventing staff from giving police witness statements or attending court by denying time off.
Sir Mark Rowley has urged retailers to do more to help police tackle soaring rates of shoplifting across Britain
|GETTY
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The Met Police chief acknowledged that, two years ago, retailers had valid concerns about police failing to tackle the surge in shoplifting.
He told The Telegraph: "They were right to say to us, ‘please step up more’. And we have done.
"They need to step up more. There are some of them who are fantastic and I’m not going to name a good and bad list, that would be invidious.
Sir Mark added that he was "putting a marker down".
The British Retail Consortium revealed that there were over 20 million incidents of shoplifting in the UK in 2024
| GETTYThe Met Police chief is believed to have held talks with West End retailers on Friday to raise concerns about co-operation with efforts to root out shoplifting.
According to statistics published by the Government in July, Britain sees almost three thefts reported every minute.
Earlier this year, the British Retail Consortium revealed that there were over 20 million incidents of shoplifting in the UK in 2024, costing retailers £2.2billion.
The figures suggest that 97 per cent of shoplifting cases go unreported to the police.
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Sir Mark said the Met’s efforts to tackle shoplifting have helped bring down thefts in stores
| PASir Mark, who backs the use of facial recognition technology, said police can identify suspects in around 40 per cent of cases when CCTV images are matched with records of previous offenders.
He said the Met’s efforts to tackle shoplifting have helped bring down thefts in stores, with incidents falling 4.4 per cent between April and December.
However, the number of charges, fines, and other penalties has risen by 82 per cent, but the Met still records the lowest detection rate in England and Wales with just 9 per cent of shoplifting cases ending with a charge.
The Met Police chief told the newspaper: “The retail sector, a couple of years ago, was right to be cross with policing across the country.
"But in London, over the last year or so, we’ve really doubled down on it.
"We’re making a lot of progress, but I need to challenge back now to the retail sector. They now need to do better.”
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were 529,994 shoplifting offences recorded in England and Wales in the year to June 2025.
The ONS noted that there has been a "sharp rises" in retail crime since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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