POLICE COLUMN: Inspector Emma Wright
As readers may be aware, Police Scotland launched the Retail Crime Taskforce earlier this year, following a £3m funding allocation from the Scottish Government for the year 2025/26.
This is on the back of a continued rise in retail crime incidents occurring across the country and since the Taskforce's inception, we have been assisting local policing teams in a variety of ways as we look to reduce offences and bring those responsible to justice.
As the Inspector for the Retail Crime Taskforce, I am grateful to Chief Inspector McArthur-Kerr for allowing me the use of her column to reflect on how the Taskforce is supporting ongoing efforts within West Lothian aimed at reducing crimes such as shoplifting and the intimidation, harassment, and assault of retail workers.
Our analysis of retail crime throughout Lothians and Scottish Borders Division shows that reports of shoplifting are up by over 31% in comparison to the previous year, meaning more than 828 additional offences have been recorded.
I am however pleased to report that offences against retail workers, have reduced in the area, with reported assaults down by almost 22% and harassment offences down by just over 25% this year.
I want to make it clear – there is no such thing as a victimless crime. When these incidents occur, it creates a sense of fear within the staff working in these premises, particularly if they have had a negative interaction with a shoplifter while the crime is being committed.
It also has a knock-on impact for the wider community, as those responsible for these offences then feel empowered to commit further crimes. The financial losses suffered by retailers, inevitability contribute to rising overheads which are reflected in increased prices for consumers and in some cases can cause retail businesses to face closure.
The mission of the Retail Crime Taskforce is simple. Reduce retail crime, bring offenders to justice and work with the retail sector so they can help prevent such incidents occurring.
Our analysis for West Lothian has also shown that many retail crimes are being carried out by individuals who do not live within the area but visit premises like the Centre in Livingston and steal from the high-value retailers within.
There are certain premises which are being repeatedly targeted, and these sites need our support and assistance to identify where they can enhance their prevention measures and how they can invest in technologies, or sign-up to information-sharing schemes, that will help us more quickly and easily identify and apprehend offenders and improve detection rates.
It is vitally important that local policing teams are seen to be visible and robust in their response retail crime and so, following engagement with West Lothian's senior leadership team, the Retail Crime Taskforce has provided additional funding for overtime and enhanced patrols to ensure West Lothian has proportionate numbers of resources in the right place at the right time to tackle retail crime properly.
Funding has also been made available for diversionary projects for young people who have become involved in retail crime and local officers will be working with retail and third sector partners to deliver these initiatives aimed to help young people move away from criminality.
It is our aim to utilise this approach to reduce the number of retail offences taking place within West Lothian, increase the number of arrests being made for crimes of this nature and divert young people away from retail crime.
However, we cannot and will not become complacent and we will monitor the operational effectiveness of this approach.
If further resource funding is required, or if other specialist support can be provided by the Taskforce, then this will be utilised whenever it is necessary.
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