Store owners worry for their businesses, as shoplifting offences in Kent increase.
Mahima Abedin reports.
Mahima Abedin reports.
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00:00Kent's high streets are facing an unwanted fight with shoplifting offences.
00:04It's the highest it's been in seven years.
00:07And it's retailers like Flooring and Fabrics Make a Home in Gillingham
00:11that are having to bear the brunt of it as they're not only worried about their businesses
00:15but also their own safety.
00:17They just grab things and just run before you can even blink or do anything about it.
00:22We're not a big, big store so we can't just write it off and get it back on insurance.
00:28It's a loss to me personally because I buy them in so it's like thieving from me.
00:33I've got a radio in case we need to get hold of other shops or the police
00:38but because they're not here they can't respond.
00:40It's not their fault.
00:42I don't know what else you can do because it's never going to end.
00:45It's never going to stop.
00:47About a month ago is when Dawn experienced a family running in
00:50and spreading themselves out around the shop.
00:52They came in and they took things like these beddings
00:55and also these rugs behind me have had to be moved from the front of the shop to the back.
00:59But not only that, Dawn has also now got these radios
01:02which contact the police directly if this were to ever happen again.
01:06She says that it makes her feel that tiny bit safer
01:08but there's still more that needs to be done.
01:10Kent Police said it received a report around 2pm on Monday 19th August
01:15that five women and two children stole bedding and a rug on Gillingham High Street.
01:20No one has been arrested at this stage
01:21but officers are appealing to anyone with more information to get in contact.
01:26Meanwhile, new figures from Kent Police show there's been 2,433 more cases of shoplifting
01:32being reported this year compared to 2023.
01:36It remains fuelled by drugs and drug habits, organised crime and also opportunists.
01:41So our proactive strategy is seeing more of these apprentices being solved
01:46and also more people being brought to justice.
01:48We'll carry on taking that fight to those people who are repeatedly targeting our vendors.
01:54We're working jointly across the region,
01:57across the country to tackle shoplifting in a coordinated way.
02:01But everyone's got a part to play in that, keeping our retail shop workers safe.
02:07So we're working with the shops, our business crime reduction partnerships
02:11to make sure that we can see a reduction in shoplifting going forward.
02:15Retailers are now being encouraged to sign up to a scheme called My Community Voice
02:19which allows them to connect to their local police teams directly.
02:22But for many business owners like Dawn,
02:25that hasn't removed the helplessness and the worries she feels on a daily basis.
02:30Mahima Abedin for KMTV in Gillingham.