Shoplifters either 'desperate for food or stealing to order' across Mid and East Antrim as police provide prevention tips
Meat and other foodstuffs are among items most stolen from shops in Mid and East Antrim, crime prevention officer Paul Black has said.
The PSNI officer told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that there has been “a big increase in shoplifting” in the borough since the Covid pandemic.
“There are two types, those who are desperate for food and those who are stealing to order,” he said.
Speaking at a public meeting of Mid and East Antrim Policing and Community Safety Partnership at Carrickfergus Town Hall on Thursday evening, the officer outlined details of a Shop Safe scheme which is available to retailers.
A 60-minute staff training session, which was launched in Belfast at CastleCourt and Victoria Square shopping centres, has been rolled out to businesses in Ballymena.
He indicated that retail theft is “on the increase as an impact of the cost of living crisis” and shoplifters sometimes go armed with tools such as hammers and pliers, knives and magnets.
“We try to teach staff members to engage with customers if it looks likely they are going to steal something. It shows they have already been seen. It gets their head up and creates paranoia. Good service is good security.”
The officer reminded that someone can be removed from a shop.
“Ask them to leave, tell them to leave, then tell them if they do not leave, you will contact police. If a disruptive person refuses to leave, they will be removed by police,” he stated.
“You can tell them that if they do not leave immediately, you will phone the police, they are on camera and being recorded and police will remove them.”
He noted that if someone lingers in a certain area of shop, it is often a “tell-tale sign” of a potential shoplifter. He also spoke of a distraction technique which can be large groups of people coming into a premises to steal.
Anti-social behaviour in Carrickfergus town centre involving large groups of young people has been reported by retailers.
Samantha Dale said that “vast groups” of children and teenagers are coming into her High Street shop in groups of 30. Shop worker Ann Barclay reported young people congregating at North Street “in their hundreds” some evenings.
“The power of social media makes it easy for them to meet up and go from four to 40 in a short space of time,” said Samantha.
“I do not have any bother with them. I would have a good rapport with the kids. They know they are not going to be able to buy vapes or sold cigarettes. They just hang about. They are bored.”
Speaking at a recent meeting of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s Economic and Environment Committee, Carrickfergus Castle Ulster Unionist Councillor Robin Stewart expressed concern over fireworks being thrown inside the De Courcy Shopping Centre and anti-social behaviour, which he said, has been taking place at the premises during recent months.
For further information about the ‘Shop’ Safe’ scheme in Mid and East Antrim, email: [email protected]
Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter