Public should help to stop shoplifting
Barber said people needed to judge situations "based on what you see in front of you".
He added: "I am not laying down some rules on this. But I encourage people to do something. "If we want to live in a safe, prosperous society, we all have a responsibility. It's not just about some external agency coming in from outside."If you're in a store and you witness shoplifting happening I think at the very least you should report that to the police, report it to the staff, perhaps take some mobile phone footage, shout at someone 'put that back'."Some people will feel able to physically intervene but I am not encouraging everybody to be rugby tackling offenders to the ground and put themselves at risk."
But Reynolds, a Liberal Democrat elected last year, said "expecting the public to do the job for the police is not the way round this should be". He added: "When you see someone shoplifting, the right thing to do is to alert staff and call the police. "But to expect individuals to intervene when we don't know what situation they will be putting themselves into is irresponsible, and I think could actually end up being quite dangerous."
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