Officers arrest more than 2,800 for Essex shop thefts in two years

Our officers have made more than 2,800 arrests for shop theft across Essex in the past two years.

And, during the same period, they solved 67% more offences.

Sergeant Christian Denning, who heads up our Business Crime Team, says:

“We know that, nationally, the number of shop thefts is increasing, and Essex is not immune from this.
“We take shoplifting seriously because we know how it affects store staff, customers and the businesses themselves. With the current economic challenges, retailers simply cannot afford significant losses due to theft.”

Business crime officers provide specialist tactical advice to those officers in neighbourhood policing and local policing teams across our county who make the bulk of arrests for shop theft, plus associated assaults and anti-social behaviour, and carry out the investigations.

The Business Crime Team also work closely with retailers, providing expert advice on how to help keep their staff, stock and stores safe and secure.

But, of course, key to this is apprehending the shoplifters themselves and ensuring they are convicted at court.

Between 14 September 2023 and 13 September 2025, our response officers and neighbourhood policing officers made 2,829 arrests for shop theft. That's 118 a month. 

And they solved 1,627 more shoplifting offences in the 12 months to 31 August 2025, compared with the year to 31 August 2023. 

Many of those people arrested will have been charged and then appeared in court the following day with no choice but to plead guilty to their crimes, because of the strength of the evidence against them.

Christian explains:

“Through our Open For Business, Closed For Crime campaign, we encourage retailers to tell us about incidents of shop theft, assaults on staff and related anti-social behaviour.
“This information allows us to identify emerging retail crime trends and to adapt our crime prevention advice to tackle them.
“And their witness statements, coupled with good quality CCTV footage, help us to secure convictions and banning orders at court.”

Criminal behaviour orders, or CBOs, were introduced in 2014 to prevent persistent offenders from taking part in criminal activity and anti-social behaviour.

Christian says:

“Here in Essex, we spotted the potential for using CBOs to deter shoplifters and, in some cases, where their offending is fuelled by addiction, divert them from criminal behaviour.”

Currently in Essex, 105 shoplifters are subject to CBOs, imposed by the courts. Conditions can include being banned from entering shops they frequently target or, depending on their offending patterns, entire store chains across Essex and even further afield.

“Offenders may also be required to attend a course of drug or alcohol treatment sessions to help them beat dependencies which are at the root of much shop theft.
“Anyone arrested for acquisitive crime, such as shop theft or burglary, will be tested for class A drugs when they enter one of our custody suites and the results help us to decide what conditions to seek when we apply to the courts for CBOs to be imposed on persistent shoplifters.”

While CBOs usually run for between two and five years, they can be longer. In July a 39-year-old Colchester man was banned from entering any Boots store in England and Wales for ten years.

Another man, aged 54 from Royston in Hertfordshire, is forbidden indefinitely from entering from entering any jewellery shop or the jewellery section of any store and from entering Lakeside Shopping Centre.

But a CBO is not a ‘get out’.

Christian says:

“People who flout these court orders can be arrested, put back before the courts and jailed or fined for breaches.” 

We're offering more ways for our communities to stay up to date with our work across Essex.

Our e-newsletter, Dispatch, delivers news, information, and advice from Essex Police.

Dispatch is a ‘one stop shop’ for local police news – direct from the source. 

Sign up is completely free and you can unsubscribe at any time.