Sixty-five people arrested for shoplifting across Essex

Our specialist Business Crime Team works with retailers to encourage them to report shop thefts and assaults of shop staff to us.

And, in the past three weeks, Essex Police officers have secured a total of 116 charges of shop theft and seven of assaulting a retail worker against a total of 38 people in the past three weeks.

A total of 65 arrests for shop theft* in Essex were made between 29 July and 18 August 2024.

Fifteen people were arrested across Thurrock; 13 in each of the Chelmsford and Southend districts; nine across the Basildon district; seven in Harlow; six in Colchester; one in Tendring; and one was arrested by Norfolk police in Norwich.

Officers have made 91 arrests for shop theft in the past four weeks. Between 1 January and 18 August 2024, that figure rises to 916.

Our Business Crime Team reviews every shoplifting arrest and encourages retailers to report all thefts and assaults of shop staff through its Open For Business, Closed For Crime initiative.

Business crime officers then work with their local colleagues to apply to the courts for criminal behaviour orders (CBO) to tackle persistent offenders.

Of the those arrested in the past three weeks, our Business Crime Team will be seeking criminal behaviour orders against five of them.

CBOs aim to tackle the underlying causes of offending and may require offenders to engage in treatment services, such as drug and alcohol addiction support.

It is an offence to breach the terms of a CBO and courts can impose a maximum sentence of up to five years’ imprisonment or a fine, or both, for an adult convicted of breaching them.

Fourteen people have been bailed to allow further investigations to be carried out, ten people have received a community resolution while no further action will be taken against three of those arrested.

* Arrests for shop theft. This relates to the number of arrests our officers have made. A person may have been arrested more than once for theft from a shop during the time period. And they may have been arrested for more than one offence.

Essex Police Business Crime Team

Our Business Crime Team specialises in supporting businesses, working to build relationships with independent shops and retail chains, explaining how they can report crime to us and, just as importantly, what will happen when they do. 

They help to identify risks in the workplace, providing crime prevention, fraud and cyber-crime advice and strengthening links with businesses and partners, including local community safety partnerships, Essex Chambers of Commerce and the Essex Federation of Small Businesses. 

Working with the National Business Crime Centre, the team share nationally-identified crime trends and best practice with our business community. And they have also developed a comprehensive guide to business crime prevention which identifies steps business-owners can take to protect themselves and their properties. 

For more information, visit our Business Crime Team pages.

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