Prolific gang of shoplifters snared by police in Doncaster CCTV sting operation

Officers in Doncaster have been targeting and apprehending prolific thieves as part of a dedicated retail crime team – and they have been showered with praise for their 'success story' in helping to turn the tide on shoplifters.

Tackling retail crime remains a key focus for South Yorkshire Police and 2023 has seen the creation of dedicated teams who have worked directly with retailers and even carried out meticulously planned CCTV operations to catch shoplifters in the act.

You can watch video of the police operation to catch the thieves HERE

One of these operations took months of planning and was carried out a One Stop store in Carr House Road in Doncaster.

The store had been plagued by shoplifters, leaving some staff terrified to go to work but a partnership between the store and retail crime officers led to three prolific offenders arrested in the space of just a few hours.

Antony Thopliss, who is a regional security business partner, worked directly with officers in Doncaster's retail crime team to target shoplifters and has hailed the "success story" that has resulted in a number of well-known thieves being jailed.

He said: "We noticed an increase in shoplifting at the One Stop store in Carr House Road and the work that has been done at that store to counteract that has been remarkable.

"Shoplifting led to some colleagues feeling nervous about coming into work and it was our priority to make sure they didn't have to put themselves in harm as part of the job.

"We also wanted to make sure that there was a deterrent and consequences for shoplifting as we noticed the same prolific offenders returning to commit the same offences.

"Now, we have 4k high definition cameras in the store and the police presence has been superb. We wanted to keep our colleagues safe and we've been able to do that and I believe the work we've done with police in Doncaster needs to be celebrated."It is a success story and if you look back at recent stories these prolific offenders who have targeted these stores have since been jailed."

Since 3 November, 28 shoplifters have been convicted of theft offences committed in Doncaster city centre and the immediate surrounding areas.

Many of these have received immediate custodial sentences with judges inflicting these on prolific thieves in the area.

Chief Inspector David Struggles, who is force lead for retail crime, said: "Having these dedicated retail crime teams has allowed a group of officers to gain crucial intelligence on the patterns, trends and behaviours of well-known offenders, with this information then shared among different retail outlets.

"More and more shops and businesses feel encouraged to report shoplifting offences and this is crucial as only when a crime is reported can we investigate it thoroughly and recently we have seen in terms of thefts that these reports are resulting in prosecutions.

"As well as building these strong partnerships, we have stepped up targeted patrols in hotspot areas that are particularly affected by retail crime and we will continue to share crime prevention advice with businesses and shop owners so they can protect themselves from shoplifters."

To consolidate and build on efforts to tackle retail crime, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings and Assistant Chief Constable Dan Thorpe invited leaders from the business and retail community to a retail crime networking event in Sheffield.

“This provided an opportunity for us to meet retailers and forge key partnerships in order to accurately understand and reduce the impact of retail crime through co-ordinated activity between police and the business community," Chf Insp Struggles said.

The force is also backing the Government's new Retail Crime Action Plan and Project Pegasus, which has been launched to specifically combat shoplifting.

Chf Insp Struggles said: "We have shown our dedication to tackling shoplifting and retail crime and we can be encouraged by what we are doing within our districts. With this in mind, we are also supporting the Government's Op Pegasus and its own Retail Crime Action Plan which aims to catch more offenders and keep retail workers safe - something we have already shown our commitment towards achieving.

"We know shoplifting is not a victimless crime and we know the effect it has on our town and city centres as well as our local communities. We will not allow their actions to wreak misery on shoppers and retailers and we hope that our recent endeavours show the public our real commitment towards combating retail crime."

We are fully committed to backing the government's Op Pegasus and the Retail Crime Action Plan. We have shown our dedication to tackling shoplifting and retail crime through our recent results and I am keen for this level of commitment to continue.

"We will step up targeted hotspot patrols in badly affected areas and we have reaffirmed our pledge in South Yorkshire to follow up on any evidence that could reasonably lead to catching a perpetrator.

"Shoplifting and retail crime is not a victimless crime and we must make sure we support this new initiative and businesses as a whole to drive down criminal behaviour and restore public faith in tackling these types of crimes."