Glasgow police to increase use of shoplifting impact statements

As officers work to tackle the rise in shoplifting across Glasgow, they want to improve their use of statements to better illustrate to the courts how retail crime affects business and individuals. 

Superintendent Derrick Johnston admitted impact statements are currently "underused" in the Greater Glasgow division.  

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He said: "These impact statements serve to help the court understand the impact of retail crime.  

"A good example might be an individual being arrested for multiple offences of shoplifitng but the shopliftings on their own might be a £10 steak, or a bottle of whisky, bottle of vodka, but when you pulled them all together, what’s the impact on the premises?  

"What’s the impact on the workers in there?  

"What’s the impact on the local community because of police hours spent investigating these crimes and then the impact on court time?  

"When you put all that together, there’s a massive impact on the public purse and on individuals who don’t come to work in retail to be abused."

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(Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest) Supt Johnston says he has seen the value of impact statements when dealing with other crimes.  

He added: "The courts have really focused on what we’ve put in them, so we plan to roll that out across G division and illustrate to the courts the true impact retail crime is having."

As we previously reported, shoplifting is sometimes believed by individuals to be a 'victimless crime' but Supt Johnston says that is "absolutely not" the case.  

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He said: "Without shop workers, we wouldn’t get our daily essentials, and it was proved during Covid how essential they are.  

"They are at the coalface dealing with the public so any impact the crime has directly on them affects individuals who just want to come, earn a living and go home to their families."

At a Retailers Against Crime conference in Glasgow in September, it was revealed that across Scotland there has been spike in the number of 13- to 15-year-olds committing retail crime offences.  

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(Image: Newsquest) While Supt Johnston agreed that the Scottish Government’s drive not to criminalise children "does absolutely have a bearing" on how young people are dealt with in the judicial system, both he and Inspector Jon Watters highlighted that despite some people’s perception, young people are not responsible for the majority of retail crime.  

Since the start of January, 21% of shopliftings in Glasgow have been committed by people under 18 which is a 2% increase on last year.  

Supt Johnston explained: "Our youngest offenders are nine years old and upwards, but between nine and 12 there were on 21 offences committed.  

"The majority demographic is between 19 and 55, but the main age bracket of offending with the highest proportion is between 36 and 45, with 66% male and just over 33% female." 

Insp Watters continued: "The feeling of retailers might be different to the stats as they do highlight young people quite a lot.  

"I think when young people go into commit shoplifting, they might be with other people so they’re more boisterous when they’re doing it so then it has more of an impact on the retailers and they feel it more and with young people as well it’s quite often repeat offenders so they’ll know their faces. 

"But that 21% shows you it isn’t really a young person's crime as such."

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service was contacted for comment.