VICE social media channel documented a crisis where shoplifting has become "absolutely endemic in every city and town up and down the country", reaching a scale so vast it is currently "being discussed in parliament". The investigation by VICE reveals a hidden world driven by professional syndicates, individuals struggling with addiction, and, increasingly, people simply unable to afford basic necessities.
For professional shoplifters, the motivation is often framed as a "victimless crime". Vivian, a professional shoplifter and single mother of two, views her actions as robbing "multi multi-million million millionaires" and "big store[s] that got profits coming out of their ears". Vivian found it difficult to survive after splitting with her children’s father, and she totaled up a "£1,000 take home from shoplifting last month". She can take "easy five grand out of Swansea a week". She sees her activities as "helping the community", supplying mothers who are trying to survive with kids, selling them essential goods like baby milk at half the price. She asserts that there is "no one behind it being damaged apart from a big store".
However, the consequences for retail workers are severe. Francesca, a staff member at a local Co-op featured in the VICE report, stated there has "never been a shift that we've not had it" and that she has been "threatened" by shoplifters. She struggles to accept shoplifting when she works "all the hours I work to provide for my family". She recounts having to give a product to a shoplifter because "it's not worth what could happen".
Related article - Uphorial Shopify
Rule Britannia: Inside Britain’s Shoplifting Epidemic
The VICE investigation identified three distinct categories of shoplifters driving this crisis: the "professional shoplifter" who is "very good at his job" and "basically lives off it"; the "other type of shoplifter who is entrenched in addiction" and "just wants to go into a shop and get what he can to then sell for drugs"; and a "third type of shoplifter due to the cost of living crisis". These third-type shoplifters are "everyday people" and mothers who previously bought cheap goods but now "can't afford to even pay half the price and they're shoplifting themselves". These people are "deprived of food" or struggling to pay bills, performing the crime to "provide for their family".
For those addicted to drugs like heroin and crack, the act of shoplifting is an addiction in itself. One former addict, who has been clean for four years, revealed that the "rush" he feels when getting away is "like no drug no alcohol nothing I've ever taken before in my life", comparing it to playing "Pac-Man with the security guards". Another interviewee, who is back in daily addiction, stated that shoplifting is how he "find[s] get [his] drugs" and goes on a "race shoplifting" every morning.
The overwhelming factor enabling this epidemic is the lax enforcement and inadequate legal deterrents. The "story on the streets" is that store workers "don't charge you over £200". If security staff see a person, the shoplifter can simply say "have your bag back and off I go". The police are often slow, taking "six hours to get here anyway" or driving straight past shoplifters without caring. If caught, the punishment is minimal; shoplifters risk only a few weeks in jail, and many walk away with a "NFA" (No Further Action) or bail. As an interviewee noted, "the reward for shoplifting outweighs the punishment". One professional said, "You can make the same amount of money shoplifting as a burglar as a drug dealer as an armed robber but you're only getting a couple of weeks in jail what kind of uh what kind of deterrent is that what are you teaching". Many shoplifters state that a sentence of "two years [or] four years in jail" would stop them, but the current six-week sentence means they are "in there and you're out of there" and immediately start "doing it again and again and again and again". For those struggling with addiction, prison "didn't work for me".
Professional shoplifters target valuable things or bulk-buy items like washing-up liquid, toothpaste, and coffee, which they sell to people who "rather pay me half price than going in the shop and paying full price". This system makes items like a £65 Amazon device used to bypass security worth a "ridiculous amount of money weekly". For professionals like Vivian, who hits places she is banned from, such as TK Maxx, twice a week, the aim is to get in the shop as many times as possible. Professional shoplifters often work with a partner, taking turns to distract their victim. Vivian believes this is the "safest way for a woman to earn money" and estimates that the partners she knows collectively make "a mill" within a year.
