'We all need to pull together to tackle shoplifting'

A senior police officer has urged politicians to work with the force to deal with shoplifting, claiming comments about a lack of action make the job "harder".

Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage have both highlighted shoplifting in speeches on crime, with the latter claiming it shows "Britain is broken".

However, Sgt Christian Denning, who leads Essex Police's business crime unit, says the force is taking action and called for support from the Essex politicians.

He said: "Honestly (those comments) make the job harder, it almost encourages people to think it is lawless, it's not lawless. We need to all be clubbing together on this."

In recent months politicians, such as Conservative leader and North West Essex MP Badenoch, and Reform UK leader and Clacton by-election candidate Farage, have addressed shoplifting in major speeches.

Speaking to the Times ahead of the local elections in May, Badenoch referred to sausage rolls being put under "lock and key" at Greggs.

Farage has mentioned shoplifting as being part of possible "societal collapse" and has called for "zero tolerance" in dealing with the perpetrators.

In a speech last year he suggested thefts under £200 would not be investigated, saying "frankly nothing is going to happen to you".

But Denning says action is being taken and dismissed the £200 claim.

He said: "We put together 4,000 charges last year. Things are happening.

"The £200 rule is a complete fabrication. We will deal with whatever you give to us, we will look at it and see what evidence is there."

Essex Police has seen shoplifting increase in recent years. Between April 2022 and March 2023, 9,896 offences were recorded, but by March 2025 that had reached 14,327 offences.

The latest figures for April 2025 to March 2026 show that has dropped to 13,855, but just 34% of offences are currently solved - up from 24% in March 2025.

Denning said Operation Retail, where alleged shoplifters are presented with evidence of their offence and asked if they wanted a formal interview or for the cases to go straight to court, was having results and speeding up justice.

The force said 284 suspects were dealt with that way in the first six months of its operation, saving more than 10 weeks of officer time and bringing about 930 charges.

Neighbourhood policing teams in places like Brentwood, where officers work alongside council-funded town rangers, are also credited with making a difference.

Denning added: "We're saving time, effort and money in getting people in front of the court quicker, and when they get in front of the judge quicker they tend to give guilty pleas.

"We've managed to raise our solve rate whilst reducing the amount of crime being reported to us, it seems like a really big win."

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