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Recorded incidents of shoplifting from January 2022 to May 2023

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.031080

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please can you provide the following information for the period of 1 Jan 2022 - 31 May 2023 (or as recently as possible):

1) For all shoplifting cases, the total value of, and number of the items stolen broken up by the type of item stolen (and by year/month if possible).

2) For all shoplifting cases, the total value of, and number of the items stolen broken up by the name of the business stolen from (and by year/month if possible).

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 31(1)(a) – Law Enforcement

Reason for decision

Providing the breakdown of shoplifting reports according to which retailers/businesses have reported would be likely to reveal patterns of potential under-reporting or low detection. This would make these retailers/businesses more vulnerable to further crimes in the future as they may be perceived as being easier to steal from.

Section 31(1)(a) – Law Enforcement - You have requested information which, if published, would be likely to impact upon the prevention or detection of crime in these locations. Section 31(1)(a) of the Act, which governs Law Enforcement, is therefore engaged.

Information disclosed under the Act is disclosed to the world and not just to the individual asking for the data. Therefore any data released under the Act must be suitable for open publication, and should not be able to be used to circumvent law enforcement in any way.

Disclosing the breakdown of retailers/businesses and how many shoplifting offences were reported by each would provide information that could be used by potential thieves to commit more crimes at specific locations in the knowledge that they would be less likely to be detected and apprehended there compared to those with higher reporting figures.

Retailers/businesses with lower figures could be perceived as being more lenient with shoplifters, or even less capable of detections. This would leave them open to more criminal activity, as people may believe they would be less likely to be apprehended at these locations compared to others. This would particularly be the case if larger retailers/businesses showed lower figures than smaller retailers/businesses for example.

It would clearly not be in the best interests to the public if such information were published, as it would also be likely to reduce the effectiveness of policing deterrents as a source for preventing and detecting crime. If criminals were to have full details of which retailers/businesses were more likely to report / detect this crime, they could use this information to work out where they may be able to commit crime without apprehension. Should any weaknesses be exploited, there is a strong possibility criminality would result causing economic losses to the businesses and higher crime rates in specific areas, which would necessitate MPS time and resources.

It cannot be in the public interest to disclose information which would undermine our ability to detect crime, and bring offenders to justice, and ultimately, to reduce crime in London.

The MPS has today provided the number of shoplifting offences, the total value of, and number of the items stolen broken up by the type of item stolen by year/month, overall, thus mitigating the potential harm that has been outlined above and fulfilling the public interest considerations.

I consider that the benefit that would result from further information being disclosed does not outweigh the considerations favouring non-disclosure. This decision is based on the understanding that the public interest is not what interests the public, but what would be of greater good to the community as a whole.

Disclosure

IMPORTANT: Please ensure the notes page is read in conjunction with the data.