retail environment
Irish store theft the highest since 2004.
Retail theft from Irish stores is the highest it has been since 2004, according to figures from the Garda Síochána.
At a meeting of the National Strategic Retail Theft Forum at Garda HQ, Harcourt Square, Dublin retailers present were informed that incidents of retail crime were up by eight per cent, but rates of detection were down by 72 per cent.
However, this is an improvement on last year when detections were down by 75 per cent.
The figures also reflected a different way of recording all crime.
Also, although the incidents are higher, the value of the stock stolen is much lower than in previous years, a trend believed to be linked to the heightened theft from discount shops where theft was up by 43 per cent.
But theft increases were across the retail spectrum. Increases in theft of clothing and cosmetics were up 10 per cent on last year, alcohol (up two per cent) electrical (up 11 per cent), tools and gardening equipement (up 13 per cent) and groceries (up 13 per cent).
41per cent of theft from the person in store involves a mobile phone being stolen.
Statistics also show that females between 19 and 46 make up the majority of incidents.
40% of individuals arrested for theft from person have also been arrested for theft from stores in the last year.
The Garda said that arrests were made at peak shopping times and were committed to improving the situation by working closer with retailers.
Irish retailers are now lobbying the Government to introduce tougher penalties for repeat shoplifters as Garda reported a 40 per cent increase in the activity in inner city Dublin.
Chief Supt Pat Leahy said that burglaries and car thefts were down this year but a sharp increase in recorded shoplifting had brought up the total.
He said the apparent increase in shoplifting coincided with a change in the way the crime was recorded.
“Every single incident of shoplifting now is recorded as a crime. Whether it is a lipstick or it is a €400 jacket, it goes in as a crime,” he said.
But retail association RGDATA said figures showing an increase in shoplifting also tallied with feedback from its members.
“From our contact with members, it’s a growing problem,” said the organisation’s director general, Tara Buckley, who put the cost to retailers at about €30,000 a year.
She said the association, which represents about 4000 shops across the State, has asked Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald to introduce legislation for shoplifting similar to the recently announced measures aimed at tackling repeat burglars.
“We got a reply back saying that was to do with the constitutional protection of the family home but we believe there are ways to address this and we will be seeking ways to address this,” Ms Buckley said.
Central Statistics Office figures show 1,772 incidents of shoplifting were reported in the Garda Dublin Metropolitan Region North Central Division in the first six months of 2015, compared with 1,143 reports in the same period of 2014.
According to the data, 940 shoplifting offences were recorded in the division in the second quarter of 2015, which was the highest figure for any three-month period across all the Dublin Garda divisions over the past three years.
The figures show 5,342 shoplifting incidents have been recorded across all Dublin Garda divisions in the first half of 2015, compared with 4,260 incidents in the same period last year.
However, retailers also say they do not report most incidents as they tend to involve the theft of small items such as cups of coffee or cans of Coke.
“If you were to do that for every time you caught somebody, you’d be on the phone to Store Street non-stop,” said John Caulwell, who owns a Spar outlet on O’Connell Street.
Mr Caulwell said he estimates staff at his shop stop about six people a day attempting to steal items.
Another shop owner on Talbot Street reported a similar situation.
“We used to report a lot more of this stuff but nothing ever happens. I’ve gone to court so many times with guys, but nothing ever happens up there,” he said.
A Garda Inspectorate report last year found 8.5 per cent of crimes recorded on the Pulse system were reclassified over a period from January 2011 to May 2012.
In 83 per cent of those cases, reclassification resulted in a crime, particularly burglary and robbery, moving to a less serious offence.
A number of incidents were also moved from “attention and complaints” to crime categories.
