UK Partners Against Crime (UKPAC) has welcomed the latest Office for National Statistics figures showing a reduction in shop theft, saying the results demonstrate what can be achieved when businesses, police and technology work together to tackle prolific offenders.
While the latest figures point to encouraging progress nationally, UKPAC says sustained investment in intelligence-led crime prevention is essential if the downward trend is to continue.
The organisation is already seeing the impact of this approach in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, where a Police and Crime Commissioner-funded rollout of the UKPAC crime reporting platform has transformed the way businesses report crime and share intelligence with police.
Since launching in 2025, the partnership has engaged more than 1,500 businesses and over 4,000 users, helping identify 626 offences and secure charges against 181 prolific offenders, resulting in more than 62 years of custodial sentences. The platform has also saved an estimated 2,534 police hours and significantly increased formal action taken against offenders compared with the wider force average.
Following the success of the Hampshire programme, UKPAC has now expanded its services into other police force areas including Devon & Cornwall and Dorset, with further force area rollouts in the pipeline, demonstrating the growing appetite for intelligence-led collaborative solutions that help police target repeat offenders and protect businesses.
Gareth Lewis, Chairman of UK Partners Against Crime, said: "Today's figures are encouraging and show that the renewed focus on tackling retail crime is beginning to have an impact. The challenge now is maintaining that momentum by investing in approaches that we know deliver results.
"Our work in Hampshire and elsewhere proves that when businesses, police and local partners share intelligence through technology, more prolific offenders are identified, more crimes result in formal action and police can focus their resources where they're needed most. This collaborative approach brings benefit not just to the business and its employees, but also to the community in which they trade. The government's investment in neighbourhood policing must now be matched by continued investment in intelligence-led crime prevention if we are to drive retail and business crime down even further."