A national policing intelligence unit set up in partnership with retailers to tackle organised retail crime has been operational one year (1 May) and continues to reap results, identifying and bringing to justice crime groups responsible for £8m financial impact of offending.
Funded by the Home Office and the Pegasus Partnership (a collaboration between retailers and policing coordinated by CC Amanda Blakeman and PCC Katy Bourne), the team within Opal (policing’s national intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime) collects and develops intelligence around organised retail crime from retailers and police forces.
Since 1 May 2024, the team has received 153 referrals from retailers and police forces across England and Wales with 313 offenders and 105 linked vehicles identified as a result. Action taken following a referral can range from simply identifying an individual or vehicle right through to a complex investigation of an organised criminal network. 37 operations have been adopted from referrals totalling nearly 5,000 offences nationwide (4,710) with 148 arrests to date and 33 court outcomes resulting in custodial sentences and deportations where the offenders are foreign nationals.
Of the organised crime groups identified and monitored through Opal’s work, there has been a 50 per cent reduction in offending since 1 May 2024, demonstrating a clear impact in disrupting these high harm offenders and networks.
The Pegasus Partnership was set up in October 2023 to bring policing and retailers together in tackling shop theft through improved information sharing, best practice and upskilling. A number of high profile convictions include; three offenders responsible for over 100 crimes nationwide brought to justice by Surrey Police and Opal, an individual who stole more than £50,000 worth of goods from Boots stores across the country investigated by South Wales Police and an offender who worked across 16 police force areas to steal high value electricals and perfumes who was convicted by Devon and Cornwall Police.
Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman is National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for volume crime. She said: “Partnership and collaboration is vital in our fight against retail crime, policing cannot do this alone and through Pegasus we have built strong relationships and information sharing which enables us to target resources where they are most needed.
“Without the national intelligence coordination from Opal’s highly skilled team, many of these offenders brought to justice over the last year may never have been identified or at the very least, the huge scale of their offending may not have been identified. And in a lot of cases, the scale and level of offending is what has led to the most significant court outcomes.
“I’d like to thank the retailers and Government for their commitment to making the partnership the success it so clearly is and we look forward to seeing our collective impact continue.”
Jason Towse, managing director, Business Services at Mitie said: “We’re proud to have supported the formation of Pegasus and despite only being a year the results are overwhelming. Through technology and collaboration, Pegasus is joining the dots between retailers and the police to secure appropriate outcomes for offenders and in turn drive safer communities across the UK.
“The financial impact of retail crime is only one piece of the puzzle and what the figures don’t show is the psychological impact of the current situation on shopworkers, many of whom feel unsafe in their workplace due to threat of attacks. The tide must turn, and this can only happen through effective data sharing agreements between retailers, security and police that leave violent criminals with no place to hide.”
Katy Bourne is Sussex police & crime commissioner and APCC joint lead for business and retail crime. She said: “It was very clear that retailers were suffering from shop theft on an industrial scale and needed results, including a better method to share information and intelligence with police forces nationally. This is why, one year ago, I convened our Pegasus Partnership – a unique collaboration of the country’s top retailers joining together to fund a specialist policing team and analysts. The results published today, on our first anniversary of operation, speak for themselves and show the power of collaboration, trust and hard work, leading to nearly 150 criminals arrested and put before the courts.
“I want to acknowledge the support of Chief Constable Blakeman and the OPAL team in galvanising a national police response to shop theft. The Opal team have exceeded the expectations of our Pegasus Partnership, and the retailers have seen their investment return valuable results against organised retail crime groups and persistent offenders.
“As we look ahead, it is evident we have built a well-positioned and strong foundation for tackling organised retail crime gangs and I look forward to seeing these results increase. I am delighted that the Government can see the value too with an additional £5million given to extend OPAL’s capacity. This really is a huge step forwards in the fightback against shop theft that will benefit all retailers up and down our country.”
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “Through concerted police, retailer and government action, we can fight back against the currently unacceptable levels of shop theft blighting our communities.
“This is why we are providing £5 million pounds over the next three years to continue to support this work, significantly increasing funding and making government the largest financial backer of this initiative.
“But we can and must go further, which is why I will be discussing with police and retailers at our forthcoming Retail Crime Forum what more we can do to tackle this issue as a whole, targeting not just organised crime gangs and prolific offenders but all perpetrators of shop theft who bring misery to our high streets.
“And it is why through our Plan for Change we are putting 13,000 neighbourhood officers and PCSOs on the beat in every corner of the country – soon to be equipped with new powers to tackle assaults on shop workers and thefts under £200.”
Kari Rodgers is UK retail director at Primark. She said: “Pegasus has been a significant step forward in fostering change and improving safety on our high streets and we welcome the collaboration and intelligence sharing it has facilitated. Our collective job in tackling retail crime is far from over and we remain fully committed to standing shoulder to shoulder with fellow retailers, local police forces and the government to continue driving forward the progress made so far.”
Ben McDonald is senior corporate protection manager at Morrisons. He said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Pegasus to keep our communities safe. The partnership provides Morrisons with the opportunity to work closely with the police in order to prioritise organised retail offenders and bring them to justice. We hope this sends out the necessary deterrent to prevent further crime groups from offending.”
The organised retail crime team within Opal take referrals from retailers of any size, whether or not they are part of the Pegasus Partnership, and will work in a number of different ways to develop intelligence. This could be as simple as identifying an offender, linked offenders and/or vehicles through the Police National Database, looking at patterns of offending and MO’s which are repeated and working with retailers to share information packs about prolific offenders. The team will then support local police forces through an investigation, sharing intelligence, but also working with the Crown Prosecution Service and additional agencies as required.
Results from the Opal Organised Retail Crime team since 1 May 2024 include:
- 153 referrals impacting retail businesses, a third of which came from supermarkets.
- 313 offenders identified
- Offenders identified responsible for £8m loss to retailers
- 105 vehicles identified
- 37 operations (criminal investigations) adopted
- 1,407 positive outcomes
- 33 sentences handed out
- Total custodial sentences for all offenders of over 39 years
- 128 upskilling sessions run with retailers and retail organisations
