To combat a surge in crime, shopkeepers across Scotland are turning to a new ‘Most Wanted’ app to safeguard their employees and inventory.
As shoplifting incidents soar, many retailers have stopped reporting these crimes, doubting that the police and legal system can handle investigations or prosecutions due to being overstretched.
In response, a growing number of businesses are adopting technology that enables them to identify repeat offenders and take preventative measures independently.
This app is being rolled out in hundreds of Scottish stores, including well-known brands like Greggs and BP service stations.
BP confirmed to The Scottish Mail on Sunday that all 29 of its locations in Scotland are utilizing the new technology, which has already contributed to the apprehension of several habitual offenders.
Store employees can use the app to document details about thieves and suspects, such as their height, build, facial hair, or unique clothing. The app also allows them to note behaviors, like whether the individuals were aggressive, threatening, or armed.
By sharing information across the network of stores using the app, a comprehensive database is compiled of ‘persons of interest’, allowing staff to be put on alert if a repeat offender is spotted nearby. The technology also logs details of crimes – such as time, day, and what products were stolen.
By analysing data across the network, the app can detect patterns.
SPOTTED: Evidence on the app can be used with CCTV
NO HIDING PLACE: The Auror app is helping stores battle retail crime
Retailers can then boost in-store security at peak times, while shops can be reorganised to allow items which are most commonly stolen to be more closely guarded or moved.
Information collected – coupled with CCTV footage – also creates a dossier of evidence to be presented to police.
Roisin Currie, chief executive of Greggs, explained: ‘This software works alongside existing in-store initiatives and allows us to work in collaboration with other retailers, sharing knowledge to enable us to identify repeat offenders and inform local authorities who can then take appropriate action.’
The app was created by retail crime intelligence company Auror, whose vice-president Mark Gleeson said sharing details of suspects and incidents between stores was a powerful tool for tackling crime.
He added: ‘Auror has modernised how retailers record and manage information about crime.
‘It provides insights to connect repeat offenders and organised crime groups to what were previously considered isolated offences, and also empowers retailers to better collaborate with police.’
Analysis of data from UK stores using the app suggests just ten per cent of offenders are responsible for more than 70 per cent of retail crime. Recent successes, Mr Gleeson said, included the arrest of a ‘highly active and threatening offender’ who was linked to more than 35 thefts worth £62,000.
In a separate case, another ‘violent and aggressive offender’ suspected of carrying out more than 50 thefts worth £39,000 was also arrested.
Meanwhile BP confirmed the app had recently identified a handful of offenders who were responsible for 80 per cent of thefts at one of its most frequently-targeted sites – three of whom have now been arrested and charged.
A spokesman said: ‘Earlier this year, seven people were arrested for shoplifting linked to our retail site in Kingsway, Dundee, which had seen 57 separate thefts.
‘With Auror, we were able to identify offenders, gather evidence and share it with police.’
Scottish Government figures published in August reveal 47,381 incidents of shoplifting last year – up 124 per cent from 2021. One industry source said: ‘The police are overstretched and don’t have the resources to devote much attention to shoplifting.
‘But even if police do respond and arrest someone, often the case gets dropped as soon as it reaches the court system – or else drags on for years. A lot of retailers have simply stopped reporting crimes.’
Yesterday the Scottish Grocers Federation (SGF) hailed the new technology, while warning that rising crime is devastating retailers.
Luke McGarty, head of policy, said: ‘In recent years, there has been an escalation in retail crime unlike anything before. Not only individuals pocketing a few items, but organised groups clearing shelves and stealing to order.’
SGF research shows retail crime costs an average of £19,673 per store each year in Scotland – around £102.7 million overall.
Yesterday Police Scotland insisted that a one-year funding boost of £3 million from the Scottish Government was helping address the rise in retail offences.
