New App Helps Catch Shoplifters

Police and Bira Share Theft Advice at Autumn Fair 2026 

A retail crime app that lets shops report offences straight to officers has been hailed a success by Hertfordshire police this week, with retail crime reports up 50% so far this September compared with last year. It's a timely sign of how much tackling shop theft now depends on retailers and police sharing information, and it echoes one of the more practical sessions at Autumn Fair 2026. 

On the Counter Talks stage week, Jackson Szabo, Portfolio Director of Retail at Hyve Group, was joined by Superintendent Lisa Maslen of City of London Police and Andrew Goodacre, CEO of the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira), to talk through how theft is changing and what shop owners can realistically do about it. 

How is Hertfordshire's retail crime app helping police catch shoplifters? 

Since April, the Auror platform has allowed larger retailers in the county to report crimes through an online app and upload evidence such as CCTV footage. Supt Jamie Fowler, who leads on retail crime in Hertfordshire, told the BBC it had helped link 27 offences in one case, and that the number of suspects identified has risen alongside the jump in reports. 

In Stevenage, intelligence from the platform helped convict two men over 43 thefts from Boots stores worth around £190,000. Both have been jailed for more than two years. 

For smaller independents, the county's police and crime commissioner has funded a similar system, ShopSafe Alert, which is now rolling out in Harpenden and Waltham Cross, with the ambition of creating one coordinated system across Hertfordshire. 

Is retail crime in the UK getting better or worse? 

A bit of both. Andrew said the sector was caught off guard by the surge that started around 2022, and while levels are still far too high, reported incidents are now trending slightly down while arrests and prosecutions are going up. 

The British Retail Consortium's latest crime report paints a similar picture, with violence and abuse against staff down to around 1,600 incidents a day, yet still the second highest on record, and 5.5 million detected incidents of shop theft. 

Both speakers credited much of the progress to collaboration, particularly the Retail Crime Forum set up in 2023, which brought retailers, police chiefs and the Home Office together. As Lisa put it, policing "was never going to arrest its way out of this problem" on its own. 

What is the Tackling Retail Crime Together strategy? 

It's a three-year plan running to 2028, and Lisa was refreshingly candid that "it's not rocket science." Its priorities include pulling retailer data into policing, focusing on high-harm locations, targeting the minority of offenders behind most incidents, and sharing what works between areas. Her message was simple: if it isn't reported, police can't resource it. 

What practical steps can independent retailers take to prevent shoplifting? 

While larger retailers use tech like facial recognition on alcohol cabinets, Andrew said that for independents, the size of the shop is often its best defence because you're far more likely to notice someone you don't recognise. 

The measures he's seeing work include: 

• Dummy products on display 
• Keeping high-value stock behind the counter 
• Planning your shop layout so tempting items are harder to reach 

Perhaps the simplest tactic of all: thieves "just want to be in and out and not be noted," Andrew explained, so greeting people as they come in signals that they've been seen, and many will choose to leave. 

How is organised retail crime changing on the high street? 

Lisa said offenders range from people struggling with the cost of living to opportunists and those funding a habit, but the biggest shift has been organised criminality, with vulnerable people often exploited and sent out with a shopping list to complete. 

Should small retailers worry about cybercrime? 

Cyber-attacks aren't just a problem for big names like M&S, as Andrew pointed out that criminals are often indiscriminate. Phishing emails and fake supplier payment requests are on the rise, and Bira's buying group receives warnings about hacked supplier accounts roughly once a week. He also flagged refund fraud via card terminals, so keep an eye on your card machine whenever it's in a customer's hands. 

Deryane Tadd, founder of award-winning St Albans boutique The Dressing Room, has spoken on the Retail Insights podcast about a cyber-attack that nearly wiped out her independent fashion business, and how she went on to rebuild it stronger than before. 

How can retailers report crime without losing hours to paperwork? 

A Bournemouth emporium owner in the audience described spending hours reporting repeat thefts through 101. Lisa said work is underway so that platforms like ShopSafe can feed directly into police systems and generate a crime number automatically, alongside an improved online route that allows bulk uploads. 

Bira members can currently access a free ShopSafe trial, and both speakers urged retailers to check with their local business improvement district (BID), as many already have platform deals in place. 

What would real progress look like by 2028? 

For Andrew, that means closer work with online marketplaces, sustained funding to close illegal shops, and a firm commitment to neighbourhood policing. Lisa agreed, noting that boarded-up shops make a high street feel less safe and that thriving retail is central to how communities feel. 

It ties into the wider conversation about why independent retail matters right now, and the same thinking sits behind the free parking petition launched at the show. As Lisa put it, "we've come a long way but there's still an awful long way to go." 

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