Police Stop Punishing Shoplifters

Thursday, 7th July 2016 at 4:17pm

According to Gazette Live, Cleveland Police will no longer punish certain shoplifters.

The force has rolled out a new retail crime scheme – Operation Raptor – which means police officers are not automatically called to shops to deal with suspects caught stealing.

With 2,811 shoplifting incidents reported in the region during the first five months of 2016 – up over 8% on the same period last year – the scheme is seen as a nightmare for those fighting shoplifters on the frontline.

“We are catching shoplifters red handed but are being told to let them go scot-free,” said one anonymous high street security worker.

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