Thousands of shoplifting cases in Suffolk unsolved over last two years with offences on rise in Bury St Edmunds
Thousands of shoplifting offences in Suffolk have gone unsolved in the last two years - with the number of crimes reported on the rise, figures have revealed.
Suffolk Police has closed investigations into 3,664 shoplifting cases with no suspect identified, with 1,688 in 2023 and 1,976 last year.
The figures, obtained from a Freedom of Information request by the Bury Free Press, found the number of reported incidents rose from 3,577 to 3,701 over the two years - but the number of arrests was less than half at 1,560 and 1,824.
Chief Inspector Andy Pursehouse said it remained imperative that officers work with businesses and that they continue to report such crimes so police can investigate and look to prosecute when possible.
By location, the highest number of offences over the two years were Ipswich with 2,890, 1,006 in Lowestoft and 908 in Bury St Edmunds.
In Newmarket there were 404, 365 in Sudbury, 273 in Stowmarket, 170 in Haverhill and 80 in Mildenhall.
In Bury, the number of offences reported increased from 431 in 2023 to 477 last year.
Mark Cordell, chief executive of Our Bury St Edmunds Business Improvement District, said he thought the slight increase in cases reported was ‘actually a good thing’ as he believed it was a direct result of the increased confidence the town’s businesses have in the police to now take ‘this category of crime more seriously than they have in the recent past’.
He said he felt previously stated crime levels, quoted by the police, bore no comparison to the actual reality of the situation.
“An increased police presence in the town centre, an acknowledgement both locally and nationally that more needs to be done to reduce and deal with this category of crime and encouragement from the BID, to our members, to make the police more aware of what is happening in their businesses, will, I am confident, in the longer term lead to a reduction in retail crime and will provide a deterrent to criminals to steal from our town centre businesses,” said Mr Cordell.
In terms of outcomes for shoplifting offences, over the last two years, 1,722 resulted in a person being charged, summonsed or receiving a postal requisition.
There were 490 in which a named suspect was identified and a victim supported police action but evidential difficulties prevented further action and 411 dealt with via a community resolution.
Chief Insp Pursehouse said the rise in shoplifting was a national issue and they worked closely with partners to tackle business crime and support retailers as part of the National Retail Action Plan.
Through working with businesses, he said, they can target prolific offenders and offer support to those who may have vulnerabilities including drug and alcohol misuse.
Chief Insp Pursehouse said: “We also encourage other members of the public to report incidents of shoplifting, as it will enable us to see emerging crime trends that can be used to support preventative action, including giving advice and guidance to local retailers.”
Suffolk Constabulary is committed to bringing all offenders to justice, he said.
A police spokesperson said that often a suspect is not identified because there is no corroborating evidence, and while all efforts are made to identify suspects where there is additional evidence, such as CCTV, this sometimes is negative.
“The fact that suspects are not always identified accounts for the lower number of arrests when compared to crime reports,” they added.
In data, released by the Office of National Statistics, Suffolk was ranked the third safest county in the UK for the second year after seeing a drop in knife crime and robbery offences for the 12 months ending September 2024. However, shoplifting rose 4.6 per cent.
