Shopkeepers form vigilante group after ‘rise in middle-class shoplifters’
A group of small business owners have banded together to launch a vigilante WhatsApp group following a rise in ‘well-off middle-aged’ shoplifters.
Traders in Haslemere, Surrey say a lack of police presence in their town has caused shoplifting to skyrocket in recent months, with new incidents reported nearly every single day.
But the thefts are not perpetrated by desperate people struggling due to the cost of living crisis, shopkeepers say, but by ‘well-off middle-aged women’ with an interest in jewelry and plush toys.
Inge Dunbar, 55, who owns gift shop Sass and Spirit, says she has had to fork out for CCTV and hire extra staff to combat shoplifting.
She said: ‘From me, people steal clothes and jewellery mainly – and also Jellycats.
‘So that’s the thing. If someone’s stealing bread you of course feel sympathy because they’re struggling.
‘But when they’re stealing in a shop like this? That’s not to do with the cost of living crisis.
‘What we get most often is actually well-off middle-aged women. So that’s another issue entirely.’
Ms Dunbar said all business owners in Haslemere are aware of particular shoplifters who frequent the town centre – but there is still a lack of action from police.
She added: ‘You can tell immediately when some of them walk in. Because they’re holding their big, empty bags.
‘And there are also particular people who we know to be repeat offenders.
‘People send pictures on our WhatsApp group warning each other that they’re in town today. I’ve shared CCTV screenshots before.
‘However, police still aren’t acting enough.
‘I know they’re overstretched. I know there are issues. But all it takes is a bit of a presence – and that could deter people.’
Ben Marks, 37, owner of MB Cyclery, had thieves smash all of his shop windows during a break-in over the summer.
He said: “They broke all the windows overnight and nicked six bikes.
‘We have an alarm that calls the police but these criminals know that there are never any officers in the area – so they have some time before anyone shows up.
‘My partner and I managed to get here before the police did that night.’
Mr Marks is also part of the local WhatsApp group that is dedicated to shoplifting.
He said: ‘There’s a message on there every single day, I’d say. It was especially bad in the run-up to Christmas.
‘I think people assume that around here is a quiet and safe area. But thieves know that too.’
Stuart Warren, 59, who owns antique shop The Ark Stores, suffered three break-ins in a fortnight.
He said: ‘Three times in two weeks thieves came along and broke our padlock and stole our stuff. We lost just under £3,000.
‘What was interesting though was that they didn’t take things I’d consider particularly easy to sell on – so it seemed like a bunch of chancers who just grabbed what they could and hope they can resell.
‘Shoplifting has definitely become a big problem in Haslemere.’
Mr Warren said he thinks criminals have noticed the area is a ‘soft touch’.
He said: ‘I think because there’s not really a police presence, these people think it’s a soft touch around here.
‘When I had those break-ins, the police were helpful – but it would be good to have officers actually on the ground.
‘I think just having a couple around could be a real deterrent.’
Pat Smith, 70, who is a manager at charity shop Scope, said lots of people steal clothing to resell on platforms such as Vinted.
She said: ‘We had this one beautiful hat on display in the window and it was taken in less than half an hour.
‘People take things to resell them – particularly on platforms like Vinted.
‘They’re turning stealing into a business.’
Oliver Leach, 43, who runs local café Oliver’s Coffee and is also the town’s mayor, has confronted shoplifters after seeing their picture on the WhatsApp group.
He said: ‘There was an occasion where someone sent their CCTV footage into the WhatsApp group and I looked up and saw the shoplifters at one of our tables.
‘I went over, took their bag of items off them, and asked them to leave. I then returned the things to the shop.’
Mr Leach agreed that there is not a sufficient police presence in Haslemere – and said that one of the issues independent business owners face is that the crime reporting process is simply not viable.
He said: ‘The chains do get targeted the most here – Waitrose, Boots, Space NK.
‘But Haslemere has a lot of independent shops and they fall victim as well.
‘The thing is though, independent businesses are really struggling at the moment. We’re all working really hard.
‘So owners simply don’t have the time to go through the nightmare reporting process.
‘By the time you’ve got your CCTV as evidence and gone through the police’s portal, it’s at least an hour and a half.
‘We can’t afford to be doing that.’
Mr Leach added that since reports have emerged of the increase in shoplifting in Haslemere – he has noticed more police officers.
He said: ‘In the last few days, since we’ve been speaking about it, we have seen a couple police patrols.
‘So we have seen more of a presence.’
Surrey Police said shoplifting is a ‘priority’ for the force and encouraged business owners to report all incidents.
Chief Inspector Andy Hill said: ‘Targeting shoplifting continues to be a priority for us and in the last year Surrey Police has achieved a four-fold increase in the number of charges for shoplifting county-wide – amounting to more than 800 cases.
‘We know that incidents often go unreported – especially for lower value goods – but we would encourage any businesses to report because it helps us to build an information and intelligence picture.
‘Whilst we cannot be everywhere, we do carry out regular patrols as well as dedicated days of action to target offenders and we work with local businesses to look at security measures.
‘When something is reported to us we follow all those reasonable lines of enquiry, including circulating CCTV images with success to identify offenders.
‘We also work closely with neighbouring forces to catch those who carry out offences across borders to try and avoid detection.’