Crackdown on shoplifters in bid to improve Mansfield town centre

Nottinghamshire Police’s Mansfield neighbourhood policing team have pledged to ‘use every tool at their disposal to crack down on the small number of shoplifters who repeatedly target town centre businesses’.

These include criminal behaviour orders which can be issued by magistrates to restrict a person’s activities, if they believe that person is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to others – breaching an order can lead to jail terms of up to four years.

CBOs have already been used in Mansfield to target known burglars and will now be used more frequently to target shoplifters as well, with the first orders expected in the coming weeks.

Inspector Kylie Davies, Mansfield district commander, said: “Some people think shoplifting is a minor, or victimless crime, but this is not the case.

“Shop theft has a huge impact on local businesses, their employees and on the wider town.

“We know a disproportionate number of these thefts are carried out by small group of people. Some of them live locally and others travel form further afield as part of organised gangs.

“We already arrest and prosecute those people, but need to do more to break the cycle of their offending.

“That’s why we’re building evidence against certain individuals,to secure CBOs against them.”

Officers are creating a roiling cohort of five known offenders. Once action has been taken against one, another will be added to the list and dealt with.

Insp Davies said: “By applying CBOs to known shoplifters, who cause considerable distress and upset to retail staff and the community, we will have another tool with which to challenge and punish their behaviour.”

The move has been welcomed by partners in the town.

Sue Rogers, Mansfield business improvement district operations manager, said: “Shoplifting has a huge impact on our members and anything that can be done to target offenders is a good thing.

“We want to increase footfall and create a better shopping environment in the town centre, so I commend the police for taking this issue so seriously.”

David Evans, Mansfield Council head of health and communities, said: “It is another step in making Mansfield an even better place to live, work and invest.”