The chief constable of Norfolk Police has called for tougher and faster punishments for repeat shoplifters, warning that persistent offenders are not being deterred by the current system.
Paul Sanford said shoplifting was one of the few crimes in the county that continued to rise, and expressed frustration at delays in the courts.
Speaking on BBC Radio Norfolk, Sanford said: “There’s big delays in our court system and I will share my frustration that sometimes I don’t think these persistent offenders are getting the deterrent sentence they need.
“We do have a problem with repeat offenders coming back to stores time and time again and we do need some concerted effort to tackle them and stop their offending.”
According to the Office for National Statistics, 6,382 shoplifting offences were reported to Norfolk Police in the 12 months to June 2025, up from 5,211 in the previous year.
Sanford revealed that the force had recently dealt with a man who admitted 23 counts of shoplifting, a woman in Breckland arrested 43 times since 2022, and a Norwich offender arrested 25 times in the past 20 months.
“We’re catching them, we need the rest of the system to catch up,” he said.
Sanford said the government’s ongoing sentencing review was “critically important”, arguing that chronic backlogs in the courts were undermining efforts to curb repeat offending.
“When theft is accompanied by violence, threats or intimidation, we will come down hard,” he added. “But we need the court system to move faster.”
The force has been using CCTV as a primary source of evidence in shoplifting cases, alongside facial recognition technology to identify suspects. For the most prolific offenders, Norfolk Police has applied for criminal behaviour orders, enabling courts to ban individuals from specific town centres or retail areas.
Sanford also pointed to the resale of stolen goods, including bulk thefts from supermarkets, as a continuing driver of offending.
Retailers have reported sustained losses from shop theft in recent years, with staff often facing abuse and intimidation. Sanford said he had the “utmost sympathy” for shop workers dealing with repeat offenders.
Norfolk Police has advised retailers to strengthen security by maintaining visible customer service presence, mapping theft hotspots within stores, training staff to identify suspicious behaviour and ensuring shop floors are kept tidy to reduce opportunities for concealment.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said reforms were under way to speed up justice and strengthen community-based penalties. “We now have new laws giving tougher community restrictions, including the biggest ever expansion in tagging and the use of restriction zones,” they said.
The ministry added that investment and procedural reforms were being introduced to modernise the courts and tackle inefficiencies.
For police forces such as Norfolk, however, the message is clear: without swifter sentencing and stronger deterrents, repeat shoplifting is likely to remain a stubborn and rising challenge on the High Street.
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Norfolk police chief calls for tougher penalties for prolific shoplifters