Between September 14, 2023 and September 13, 2025, response officers and neighbourhood policing officers made 2,829 arrests for shop theft. Sgt Christian Denning, who heads up our business crime team said: “We know nationally, the number of shop thefts is increasing, and Essex is not immune from this. “We take shoplifting seriously because we know how it affects store staff, customers and the businesses themselves. Sgt Denning said: “Through our open for business, closed for crime campaign, we encourage retailers to tell us about incidents of shop theft, assaults on staff and related anti-social behaviour. “Offenders may also be required to attend a course of drug or alcohol treatment sessions to help them beat dependencies which are at the root of much shop theft,” explains Christian.