Shoplifting Crackdown: Met Police Among 16 Forces to Target Most Prolific Shop Thieves

14th November 2026

Updated 14 Nov 2026, 06:55 · First published 14 Nov 2026

Police in London and up to 15 other areas will each target around 30 of their most prolific shoplifters under a new £2.5 million crackdown. The Prolific Retail Offender Pilot, announced by the Home Secretary, will see the Metropolitan Police and forces including Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Merseyside and West Yorkshire take a more intensive, multi-agency approach to the repeat offenders behind much of the UK’s shop theft.

The shoplifting crackdown

Name

Prolific Retail Offender Pilot

Funding

£2.5m (Home Office)

Forces

Up to 16 in England and Wales, including the Met

Targets

About 30 of each force’s most prolific offenders

Timing

Phased start in early 2027, full 12-month rollout from spring

Key stat

9% of offenders account for more than half of retail crime convictions

How will it work?

Each force will pick out the small group of offenders it sees again and again, then work with local partners on a multi-agency plan to stop them reoffending. The National Police Chiefs’ Council says the aim is to test whether focusing on a “small cohort of prolific offenders” can cut the overall level of shop theft.

The scheme was announced during Safer Business Action Week. Activity will begin in phases in early 2027, with a full 12-month pilot from the spring.

Is shoplifting going down?

Police-recorded shop theft fell by 4% in the year to March 2026, although retailers say the true level of theft remains far higher than reported. Since May 2024 Opal, the national police intelligence unit for organised acquisitive crime, has supported 103 investigations leading to 287 arrests and 221 court outcomes, with prison sentences totalling more than 129 years.

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Opal says the gangs it has targeted have been linked to more than 10,000 offences and an estimated £9.7m of losses to retailers, and that offending by the organised groups it monitors has fallen by 73%.

What London shoppers will notice

Security tags on everyday items such as meat, cheese and coffee have become a common sight in London supermarkets. Retailers hope that targeting the most prolific thieves will eventually make that kind of measure less necessary.

Sources: Home Office; National Police Chiefs’ Council; Opal.