The Express joins store detective tackling UK's £2.2bn shoplifting epidemic

A store detective operating in a crime hotspot has revealed how the £2.2bn shoplifting epidemic is keeping him one of Britain's busiest men. John Kinnie has been patrolling stores for the past two years and says the sheer scale of retail crime is making it almost impossible to contain unless new powers to stop thieves in their tracks are introduced.

At present security guards can make a citizen's arrest but many retailers tell staff not to intervene because of the increased threat of violence from organised crime gangs and because of the "grey area" over what constitutes reasonable force leading them up to legal claims. John says if he and colleagues had the power to detain and hold shoplifters until police attended then his role would be transformed. The 50-year-old operates in stores across West Yorkshire and blends in with shoppers by walking around stores anonymously. He says he is constantly looking for a number of crucial tell-tale signs that indicate an offender is planning to steal.

He said: "I get myself a trolly and I'm just shopping like everybody else, trying to blend in with the customers and I'm just looking for any discrepancies in their behaviour.

"People who steal will often be looking around, acting suspicious, and putting stuff in bags rather than a basket or trolley. Anybody that puts something into bags I automatically to the self-scan tills, just to make sure they're going to take it out and pay for everything. Sometimes they don't and that's when I intervene."

John says the self-scan tills are the theft hotspot where people skip items or just scan a couple of things and then walk off with unpaid items amongst their paid for goods.

The major national chain where John operates has a non-physical intervention policy which means the detective, who will often be backed-up by the store security guard, can only verbally challenge the thief and request they return the goods. They can retrieve trolleys, baskets or bags containing stolen items by grabbing hold of them but there must be no attempt to apprehend the shoplifter.

He said: "It's incredibly frustrating that we can't detain anybody. We just have to retrieve the items, log the incident and then remove the suspect from the store.

"I try to deal with situations as delicately as I can because we don't want the situation escalating, which sometimes happens. We try to avoid that situation. My job is to retrieve the items, log it on the security app and then we upload a picture of the person if they are on CCTV, the stock that's attempted to be taken. We can then try to stop them returning to the store with a banning order, which is signed and sealed, which means they shouldn't come back. If they do come, which they do, it means they could be prosecuted for a trespassing. But ultimately if they just walk away all we can do is film and photograph them and hope the police catch them."

The Express' has launched its Stop The Shoplifters crusade demanding government action to address the crisis and is calling for police to attend all reports of retail theft to help cut the crime epidemic. Retailers have spent £1.8bn on their own security whilst the cost of theft has soared to £2.2bn - a cost that retailers inevitably pass on to hard-pressed customers

John, who is employed by North East-based shop security specialists Kingdom Security, says despite his role making him one of "the busiest men in Britain," it is rare for police to attend one of the multiple incidents he has to deal with every day. And even when they do, the outcome is often unsatisfactory with officers telling him pursuing a prosecution is "not in the public interest."

He added: "We can't rely on the police to attend but if they did it would be a huge positive. It's that visual deterrent as well as the higher chance that a prosecution might happen.

"Violence is also a worry and we have to deal with organised gangs in increasing numbers but you can't just stereotype a shoplifter. It's not just a druggie stealing to fund their habit, they come from all walks of live. Nowadays it really could be anybody you, it could be that 60-year-old lady that lives down the street, or it could be a businessman or a young parent. Shoplifting is totally out-of-control, it's a national crisis, and action from the top is urgently needed or it will only get worse.

"People may think it's a victimless crime but ultimately the costs have to be passed on, so it's you and I that pay the cost through increased prices in everything we buy."