Portsmouth police sergeant Paul Marshall on "brazen" city centre shoplifting as force promises crackdown

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary police and crime commissioner Donna Jones joined Chief constable Scott Chilton - along with local police officers - and met with traders in Portsmouth city centre to discuss their efforts to tackle a spike in shoplifting incidents. The News spoke to police officers and local traders about the scale of shoplifting in Portsmouth.

Sergeant Paul Marshall from the Portsmouth city centre team said: “We have a real problem with prolific shoplifters in the city centre in particular, and a lot of shops in different areas of Portsmouth, such as Southsea and North End. Post-Covid, there was a large increase in shoplifting and they are a lot more brazen and blatant - they just go in and clear the shelves. They don’t even attempt to hide their identities. They just need stock to sell, buy drugs, food, whatever.

Sergeant Marshall, who has worked for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Contabulary for more than 30 years, added that tackling shoplifting comprises most of his team's job.

He added: “Day to day, my officers are up there and they will deal with offences as they see them. We work in conjunction with the businesses, the crime reduction partnership, we have the shop watch radios so we know what’s going on when we’re on duty. We also tackle prolific shoplifters, which we target. Our main aim is to get them into police custody and hopefully remand them in custody.

The policing team has dealt with shoplifters who have committed between 20 and 30 offences each over the last year, with one individual stealing goods worth more than £6,000 from a local Co-operative store. Among the most heavily targeted shops in the city centre is Sainsbury’s local in Guildhall Walk which sees roughly five to ten shoplifters steal from the premises each day. Items such as meat, cheese, alcohol and coffee are most commonly taken by thieves.

Manager Daisy Potter said: “In the beginning it was very difficult, a lot of anxiety around coming to work - you don’t know what people have on them, whether they’re going to be aggressive shoplifters or just the type that will leave when you ask. Back in December, the police set up a PCSO unit in the city centre, which has really made a big impact in crime reduction and we as a store have liaised really well with them.”

Watch the video embedded in the story to hear from sergeant Paul Marshall.