A new scheme to deter retail crime in Northamptonshire has been awarded funding as part of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s strategy to tackle shoplifting.
CCTV Pods, which are temporary floor-based security systems, were successfully piloted in December at Vintage Guru in Northampton to help to monitor activity and act as a visual deterrent to crime.
Danielle Stone has now agreed to fund these from summer, as part of her ongoing public safety strategy.
The news was announced following the fourth retail crime roundtable event, which saw the Commissioner, Chief Constable, crime prevention specialists and retailers come together to address the root causes of shoplifting.
The roundtable event also heard from speakers from the Offending to Recovery Programme, which targets prolific retail offenders in addiction, giving them the opportunity to start their recovery journey.
Danielle Stone said: “Addressing retail crime and the impact on our community is one of my top priorities and it’s really important that conversations with retailers are meaningful and actions taken away are effective.
“What we want to do here in Northamptonshire is solve problems. We want to understand what drives crime and once we understand that we can begin to find solutions.
“Hosting roundtable meetings with our partners allows us to have really open and honest conversations about what is being done across the county and how we might be able to adopt or change practices.”
Stakeholders were updated on the work between North and West Northamptonshire Community Safety Partnership who held engagement sessions with retailers to offer prevention advice. They were also given crime prevention packs to help assess their security arrangements.
The roundtable event also heard updates from Northamptonshire Police’s Retail Crime Team, which was formally launched in March 2024.
They work in partnership with the Northamptonshire Business Crime Partnership (NBCP) and dedicate resources to support retailers in the community.
So far in 2025 the team has secured prison sentences for prolific shoplifters totalling 17.8 years.
Outcomes for shoplifting offences from March 2024-2025 have also seen 29.8% of offences filed with a positive outcome.
This is an increase from 27% in the year to March 2024 and more than 10% higher than the detection rate seen in the previous year at 19.1%.
Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet said: “We’re committed to preventing and detecting retail crime across our county, and it’s great to see more resources available to retailers to deter people from offending in the first place.
“Northamptonshire Police is working hard to bring prolific offenders to justice, which is reflected in the increase we’ve seen in positive outcomes, and it has been great to hear more about schemes designed to help people move away from shop theft by addressing the issues driving their offending.
“Our priorities include increasing visible policing, especially in our town centres, to help and support retailers. We know we need to continue to do more to improve the trust and confidence retailers and the public have in us.
“Partnership working is the key to making lasting change and ensuring our county is as safe as it can be for retailers, their staff and our communities.”
Dan Pickard, Centre Director of Corby town centre, added: “We had a massive peak of anti-social behaviour in the town centre last year. We went from about 30 serious anti-social behaviour incidents a month to 220 over a sustained four-month period.
“The OPFCC managed to get additional ring-fenced Home Office funding for Corby town centre and three-quarters of those offences have now gone, it’s been incredible to have a 75% reduction in anti-social behaviour.
“It makes me feel proud and the retailers are feeling fantastic about it. It’s given them confidence – footfall has raised by 18% year-on-year in the last month, it’s incredible.”
