NCJ Number
142024
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 33 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 57-69
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Because Home Office crime statistics showed a substantial decrease of more than one-third in the number of recorded shoplifters between 1985 and 1989, the largest decrease being for juveniles, a survey of shop theft was conducted with 16 retail chains to determine why the decrease occurred.
Abstract
The 16 retail chains involved 7,873 retail outlets accounting for 25 percent of total retail sales in Great Britain in 1990. It was found that the number of shoplifters apprehended by retailers remained relatively constant between 1985 and 1989, and the probability of retailers reporting shoplifters to the police also remained constant. The number of apprehended shoplifters tended to increase with the number of store detectives employed by each retail chain, but retailers reported that their use of store detectives had not changed since 1985. Nearly all retailers wanted to have feedback from the police about what happened to apprehended shoplifters. The authors conclude that the true number of shoplifters probably remained constant between 1985 and 1989 and that the number of recorded shoplifters decreased because more shoplifters reported to the police were dealt with informally and hence did not appear in official statistics on shoplifting offenders. 17 references and 6 tables