Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, welcomes the news of a tough new package of measures to crackdown on retail crime, announced this week by the Home Office.
The government has driven forward significant efforts to tackle retail crime in the past year, bringing together policing and business to commit to smarter, more joined up working to reduce criminal behaviour and rebuild public confidence in the police response when it does occur.
These new measures include:
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Expanding the use of GPS tagging for repeat shoplifters, a constant reminder to offenders that the Probation Service can find out where they have been, with the risk of prison time if they don’t comply.
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A new standalone criminal offence for assaults on retail workers, sending a clear message that there will be tough consequences for this unacceptable behaviour.
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Investing £55.5 million over the next four years for the police to roll out facial recognition technology, helping to catch criminals.
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Helping businesses report these crimes and prevent them from happening in the first place.
Nusrat Ghani said: “Violent and abusive behaviour towards any public-facing worker is never acceptable and I welcome the announcement of tougher consequences for perpetrators. I’m pleased that the Government launched a retail crime action plan last autumn and implemented Project Pegasus, a unique private-public partnership that will radically improve the way retailers are able to share intelligence with the police. I continue working with Sussex Police on tackling and preventing crime in Wealden, and I’m pleased that these new measures will ensure that our fantastic local shop keepers are better protected.”
