Retailers call for shoplifter penalty reform |
| Thursday, 16 October 2008 | |||||||||
 The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said that reform should be made to shoplifting penalties but that they should not but abandoned, after a ten minute rule bill was introduced in Parliament.Under the bill, introduced by Conservative MP Anne McIntosh, theft would be removed from the Act that police use to give out penalty notices. But the BRC said that while drawing attention to the issue should be welcomed, changes should be made to the Criminal Justice and Police Act rather than scrapping it altogether. "Fixed penalties can be appropriate for first time offences but it's clear some offenders are receiving them repeatedly. Reform is needed but that means tackling inconsistency and properly enforcing the guidelines for their use," said director general at the BRC Stephen Robertson. He added that removing theft from the offences used on the bill will lead to a greater amount of "confusion" among retailers if there are no alternatives. Guidance is set to be unveiled by the BRC in its Retail Crime Survey on how best the police can tackle the issue. Vice president of Checkpoint Systems NCE Neil Matthews recently said that shopkeepers should use technology in a bid to cut down shoplifting. What do you think about the proposals? Will the alterations lead to more crime? Tell us what you think in the Forums section. Related Articles
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Comments (2)
Tim Edwards
said:
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... Theft, no matter how trivial, is an offence triable either way, that is in a Magistrates Court or by Judge and Jury in Crown Court. Shoplifting, in particular, is a major problem which costs retailers millions of pounds. It should never be the subject of a fixed penalty. |
Jonathan James
said:
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... Whilst its good that the BRC have added their weight to the debate we must not miss this opportunity to get shop theft removed from the list of offences dealt with by a Fixed Penalty Notice.They do not work and never have so lets prevent any "confusion" and use Anne McIntoshs Bill to ensure that shop thieves are dealt with in the same way that other criminals are;by the Courts. |
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