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Police Commissioner Richard Chambers is reassuring the retail community and the public that retail crime is one of his top priorities, saying a recent memo was confusing and unhelpful.
Chambers says the wrong message had been sent about the police approach as a result of confusion about the memo, which referred to thresholds for retail crime.
“I have made retail crime one of the priorities for the police executive, and that means increasing the focus on it.
“The memo has been confusing and unhelpful and does not meet my expectations on retail crime or the expectations of the retail community.
“I’ve asked for a reminder to be issued to all District Commanders that they should continue to catch offenders wherever possible, regardless of the memo’s thresholds.
“It is my expectation that police continue to work hard to catch offenders wherever possible.
“Our role is to enforce the law. If we were to take our focus off that, we are giving license to offenders to commit crime. That will not happen.”
Chambers’ statement follows recent reporting on a police memo that was sent to staff and says from March this year, the police’s file management centre was applying standardised value thresholds when it assessed a theft or fraud file.
The value threshold was $200 for general theft, $150 for a petrol drive-off, $500 for shoplifting, $1000 for fraud and $500 for all other fraud.
Crimes that had monetary amounts under those thresholds could be filed “regardless of any lines of enquiry”.
He says it’s important for police, the retail community, and for trust and confidence with the wider public.
“Retail crime is increasing, and we’re working closely with the retail community to address it. I want them to have confidence that we will continue to do so.”
Chambers says there are examples of successful approaches to retail crime where a combination of dedicated teams, highly visible beat police and close work with the retail community has paid dividends.
Executive Director Service, Victims and Resolutions, Rachael Bambery, said District Commanders were being reminded today that districts continued to have discretion to investigate crimes, taking into account the context and available resources.
“Early case closure is not final as new information and patterns often allow police to revisit cases, for example, where a small number of offenders can be linked to multiple offences.”
