Police chief calls for major reform in bid to crack down on shoplifting as quickly as summer rioters

He said the riots - which began after three young girls were killed in Southport - demonstrated the force’s ability to issue a tough and fast response.

Besides cracking down on policing, Sanford said that a complete reform of the justice system was needed to stop the shoplifters across the country.

He said: “We do need more whole-system reform, and what we saw in the disorder in the summer is when the sanction is swift, decisive and relevant, it cuts out criminality. In an ideal world that would be the standard and I think you’d need that sort of response to see the reductions in shoplifting that I would really like to see.”

Speaking to the BBC, he said: “It’s about doing the core things well, and shoplifting is a big part of that because if you tolerate any form of crime, other crimes will follow and sometimes bigger crimes as well.

“And we know that some of the offenders that we are apprehending for shoplifting are involved in all sorts of criminality, whether it be drug supply, whether it be street robbery, we don’t want those people in our communities, our public don’t want them floating around in our communities, and we make sure that we treat all criminality seriously.”

Sanford said that his force in Norfolk is the best in the country at dealing with shoplifters, but without an overhaul to the system, thieves will continue to get off scot-free.

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Discussing the system as a whole, he said: “We’ve got rape victims, victims of the most serious horrendous sexual offences waiting years for trial. You can’t call that an effective and well-functioning criminal justice system.”

In recent years, the UK has seen a wave of shoplifting incidents up and down the country.

Last year saw 430,000 shoplifting cases recorded across the nation, according to the Office for National Statistics, the highest on record and over 33 per cent more than the previous year.

However, the actual figure is thought to be much higher.

Incidents of violence and abuse in shopping centres had risen by 65 per cent from 2021-22 to 2022-23, according to a report by British Retail Consortium (BRC).

A recent survey from the trade association also showed that incidents of violence and abuse against staff had risen by 50 per cent.

Similarly, a 2024 BRC report found only 8 per cent (38,000) of incidents of violence and abuse reported to the police by retailers were prosecuted with 19,000 resulting in convictions.