London mayor cites too many shops as a factor in the city’s rising shoplifting cases, exceeding national averages.
The increase in London is very large, more than double the rise elsewhere. England and Wales had only a 22% increase. Khan thinks the cost of living hurts London more, and this also might cause the shoplifting rise.
Khan serves as London’s mayor now and notes “acquisitive crime” is higher, going up as living becomes harder. He lists three top “acquisitive” crimes: personal theft, robbery and shoplifting are all up.
London has around 40,000 stores. The rise in crime isn’t just new shops, as shop numbers fell by about 400 recently. The British Retail Consortium did a survey, which shows record retail crime levels now.
Shoplifting happened over 20 million times, costing businesses £2.2 billion in 2023/24, which is over 55,000 incidents each day. Violence is also getting much worse. There were over 2,000 daily abuse cases, up from 1,300 previously, and weapons featured in 70 cases daily.
The UK government plans to spend more money, investing £100 million in policing. Another £100 million helps England and Wales, with the goal of adding 13,000 officers by 2029. Downing Street said police visibility matters, and people need to see accessible policing.
Diana Johnson thinks it’s a good idea. She says more officers can fight crime, which will help with shoplifting’s “record-breaking” levels.