Overview
- Police in London are piloting a system in areas like Lewisham and central London that lets shops file theft reports and upload CCTV to officers in real time.
- Since rollout, the pilot has produced a 21.4% positive outcome rate — arrests, charges or convictions — compared with a 14% Met average, and it has led to 482 charges.
- Officers can identify about 80% of suspects when shops send clear footage, yet only around 20% of shoplifting reports currently include CCTV, which limits results.
- The Met says it solved nearly twice as many shoplifting cases last year and made about 1,800 more arrests, while London-wide shoplifting fell 3.7% over the past year.
- Platform data show the top 20 retailers account for 92.1% of recorded offences and 11 of them now use the tool, which police and City Hall say helps target repeat offenders and build stronger cases.