Major police operation launched to combat huge Adelaide shoplifting spike

Shoplifters are stealing expensive goods ranging from Wagyu steaks to beauty products – but police have launched a major operation to stem the spike in offences. See the video.

Police have launched a major operation to combat a significant surge in shoplifting offences as thieves target expensive goods dozens of times each day.

Quality cuts of meat – including prized wagyu steaks – beauty products, alcohol and easily re-saleable hardware goods are the main targets of thieves with major retailers sharing intelligence with police on repeat offenders to thwart their illegal activities.

Police believe the huge increase in offending is due to the rising cost of living and increased cost of goods and people returning to shops post-Covid, but the head of security for SA’s largest independent supermarket chain Drakes Supermarkets believes drug users stealing expensive goods to sell are largely responsible.

Products being nabbed from supermarkets include quality cuts of meat, beauty products, alcohol and easily re-saleable hardware goods. Picture: Supplied

Shoplifting offences have spiked according to police. Picture: Supplied. Picture: Supplied

Police figures reveal in the 12 months to the end of July there were 12,967 shop theft offences recorded – almost 250 a week - which was a 31 per cent increase over the 9,867 offences recorded in the corresponding period.

Police have also compiled a pre-Covid period figure for context to the latest figure. It shows between August 2018 and July 2019 there were 10,710 shop theft offences recorded, which still equates to a 21 per cent increase in the latest period.

While police and retailers say some offenders are stealing goods to provide food for their families, many are selling multiple items of the same goods online or – in the case of stolen meat – through unscrupulous hotels, clubs or restaurants.

Inspector Julian Coram, operations support coordinator for SAPOL’s metropolitan operations service, said while police believed more incidents were being reported because of improved relationships with retailers, not all shop theft was being reported.

Operation Measure, which is targeting recidivist offenders, has resulted in more than 250 arrests since March.

“We know that a small amount of people are responsible for quite a high percentage of retail crime. We have focused on those individuals who are committing the top end of the offending,” he said.

“We have had people for 10, 15, up to 30 offences at one time.”

Besides putting offenders before court on charges including theft and aggravated theft, police have been issuing barring orders in extreme cases that prevent an offender from attending a certain location – such as a department store, bottle shop or supermarket.

“We are using intelligence to identify who are the repeat offenders are and which stores are victim to repeat thefts and are working with them to put crime prevention measures in place,’’ he said.

He said police had been made aware two of the top theft targets were “liquor and Lego’’ because both were unidentifiable and of high value for resale. Meat theft had also increased.

Drakes Supermarkets security manager Jim Corbett said shoplifting was “on a spiral going upwards’’ with many organised groups of repeat offenders committing dozens of offences.

While some offenders were stealing a variety of food for their families, the majority of offending involved large volumes of the same goods that he believed were being sold to fund drug purchases.

Goods worth $14,500 recovered when police charged a woman with 30 shop lifting offences during Operation Measure. Picture: SAPOL

“We know how bad the methamphetamine problems is, the drug users are being told by their dealers a good currency is high quality meat and others are selling stolen goods on facebook marketplace,’’ he said.

The goods continually being targeted included meat, salamis, dairy products such as expensive cheese and health and beauty products.

Mr Corbett said there was evidence thieves were communicating online to facilitate their activities, with one facebook site even posting a picture of a store detective at a northern suburbs supermarket to alert his accomplices.

Shoplifting offences, like this captured at Drakes in Elizabeth Park, have spiked according to police. Picture: Supplied

Drakes had recently started using an online crime reporting system that enabled the real-time sharing of shop theft incidents with other stores in the Drake group.

Police also have access to the database, which includes still images and CCTV footage of offenders, what goods they were stealing and when so the authorities are aware of their activities and movements.

“The online software has given us more intelligence, more data on what is happening and that information is disturbing to say the least,” Mr Corbett said.

“The theft of meat, particularly for ourselves, and others is massive and the volume they are getting is quite disturbing.”

Originally published as Major police operation launched to combat huge Adelaide shoplifting spike