Groundbreaking AI tech could cut UK shoplifting by 70% as police begged to use it

A game-changing AI technology that has led to a dramatic reduction on shoplifters in New Zealand could revolutionise attempts in Britain to crackdown on the nation's retail crime epidemic. The Home Office has already been briefed on the pioneering system that would enable prolific offenders to be barred from every store in Britain. And the Auror technology could also aid police in bringing about prosecutions as part of plans to create the first national database of repeat offenders.

Stores including M&S, Morrisons, Boots, Tesco, Primark, and Greggs are already submitting CCTV, photos and personal data on all their repeat shoplifters to the database, which is shared with police. Just five per cent of shoplifting is reported to police, meaning thousands of prolific thieves are currently dropping below the radar and escaping prosecution amid record levels of store theft. Investigators believe that targeting the top 10% of shoplifters could cut store thefts by as much as 70 per cent - the amount of offences for which they are responsible.

The shared data enables all the stores and police to "join the dots" to identify prolific offenders, gather evidence for prosecutions and provide security staff on the shop doors with photo watchlists to bar entry.

The intelligence-sharing system was pioneered in New Zealand under Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister and is now deployed by 98% of New Zealand stores.

The system is credited with slashing rates of shoplifting and saving so much police investigation time that they could employ the equivalent of an extra 450 officers.

Paul Fagg, Auror's director of law enforcement, said the crime intelligence platform enabled retailers to record everything that happens in their stores to tackle the "huge under-reporting issue."

"Police have access to Auror so that incidents they did not see before are now visible for them," he said, adding that this enabled police and retailers to identify prolific offenders with CCTV and photographic evidence.

He cited one recent case in which a repeat offender who had targeted 18 stores, all of them operated by different retailers, was caught as a result.

He was jailed for a year and handed a criminal behaviour order that banned him from stores across the UK, with a potential jail term of five years for any breach.

Ben McDonald, the head of the Morrisons corporate protection team, said Auror was a "game-changer" as security staff could now identify prolific offenders and turn them away.

"If you can stop them before they come into the store, they will leave but once they steal something, they think it is theirs and it becomes confrontational," said the former police officer.

Stores use face recognition technology to cross reference faces with thefts and at least one supermarket is considering live facial recognition cameras which could identify offenders from the database automatically and instantly.

Former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper previously urged police to make greater use of AI including facial recognition technology.

She said: "It is a really important tool for policing to be able to use, and particularly on trying to identify criminals, looking at the CCTV.

"We do think there is more scope for using facial recognition more widely, and we're going to set out more ways in which that can be done as part of a proper framework."

A record 516,971 shoplifting offences were logged by UK forces last year - up 20% from 429,873 in 2023. Stores logged 20 million faces of suspects in the same period.

Figures show the top 10% of offenders are responsible for more than 65% of total loss and harm in UK stores. One in seven events involve threats, aggression, verbal abuse or other serious behaviours whilst one in 10 events are violent or involve weapons.

Repeat offenders are up to four times more likely to be violent, with knives and blades the most common weapon used in retail crime events across the UK.

Devon and Cornwall Police under the leadership of Chris Chaloner have been leading the way. Since launching Auror, they have seen an incredible 8.8% increase in charges for shoplifting crimes reported through the platform compared to shoplifting crimes reported through traditional means."

He added: "Retailers like Boots, BP, Greggs, Morrisons, and M&S, are seeing results in partnership like never before. These partnerships are revolutionising how retail crime is identified, investigated, and stopped. This is about sharing data, responsibility, building trust, and acting as one network. This is what happens when retailers and police connect through one purpose built platform. The results speak for themselves."

Devon and Cornwall became the first force in the country to adopt Auror and say it has transformed their efforts to tackle retail crime with a seven per cent increase in successful prosecutions.

Supt Emma Butler Jones, head of prevention and local policing said: "Direct reporting to the police through the Auror platform has revolutionised how we tackle business crime in Devon and Cornwall.

"Auror not only allows us to investigate more efficiently, but also provides unprecedented access to intelligence across a vast area, enabling us to detect more crimes and reduce harm to our victims.

"This strengthens our response to organised retail crime, fostering collaboration with forces across the country. As a result, we are not just addressing one aspect of criminality, but preventing wider serious acquisitive crime and boosting public confidence in our ability to protect communities."

The Force's charge and offender outcome rates for crimes reported through the platform are between 6% and 7% higher than crimes reported through more traditional means. This is potentially due to a more efficient reporting process. Crime reports are provided to police an average of 8.5 times quicker, which means we can accelerate our investigations.

Evidence and intelligence from the Auror platform has assisted officers in achieving more positive outcomes for our victims, and has also directly contributed towards applications of court orders which help to reduce offending and generally carry higher sentences at court.

Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: "All traders, especially small businesses, are key to thriving towns and city centres, so we must do our utmost to make Devon and Cornwall a safe place to do business. That's why I have made theft a priority for policing in my new Police and Crime Plan, tackling theft and shoplifting on our high streets and focusing on repeat crimes, repeat offenders, and repeat victims.

"The roll-out of this new system enables businesses to play their part in tackling this issue. It will help the police to build a picture to ensure offenders are brought to justice, and ultimately will help to identify the worst offenders more easily.

"We must all do our part to reduce crime and so I ask all businesses to make use of this new technology by reporting shoplifting every single time. This enables police resources to be put in the right places using evidence to support it.

"We know business crime is vastly under-reported, but the only way police can tackle this is through working in partnership with our communities and partners. Together we can understand who is causing the most harm to our communities, and develop plans to actively prevent and detect crimes."

Retail crime has become a scourge on communities, stripping the vibrancy from our high streets and making the places we gather to shop and socialise less safe.

In the UK, it's reached unprecedented levels. Figures from the Office for National Statistics confirm retail crime has reached its highest levels since comparable records began.

Retailer data entered into Auror is confronting and shows the harm is being driven by organised and repeat offenders. In fact, in the UK, we know 70% of retail crime is committed by just 10% of offenders - one in every 10 events are violent, driven by those repeat offenders, who are more than four times more likely to be violent.

In all our work around the world, the leadership we are seeing from the government and police in the UK with crime-fighting initiatives like the Tackling Retail Crime Together strategy and Safer Streets mission has been world-leading.

But to truly deliver on their promise, we must empower police and retailers to work together by arming them with the right tools.

As a society, we must find and implement the right tools to reduce this high-volume crime type. Public safety is a shared responsibility and the violence, aggression and threats from prolific offenders directed towards frontline retail workers is taking an immeasurable toll.

The question is, 'how do we find these repeat offenders in order to make these initiatives successful?' The answer lies in information and collaboration.

For too long, retailers have relied on outdated methods - spreadsheets, USB sticks, insecure emails, even public 'walls of shame' to record incidents. These fragmented systems allow repeat offenders to slip through the cracks and thrive in anonymity.

Information is power and bringing information together in the right way at the right time can make our shops and communities safer. Technology can make this possible.

Offenders are not brand, or county, or city loyal. Through their use of Auror, retailers have digitised and simplified the way they collect information about crime. This information becomes intelligence and allows them to connect the dots, linking what were once thought of as isolated offences, to the repeat offenders and organised crime groups responsible for the highest levels of harm on our streets.

This community driven information will be core of effective police intervention in violent, organised retail crime.

Police officers are stretched around the world. They are asked to be everything from social workers to mental health responders. Recruitment for policing is also tough, so this is all the more reason to give our police the right tools and information to make them as efficient and effective as possible.

In 2025, we need to look to the modern tools to combat the modern, post-covid exponential rise of retail crime. By using the technology already at our fingertips, working together to deliver actionable information, law enforcement can effectively hold violent repeat offenders to account - making us all safer.

Retail crime is a threat to the fabric of our towns and cities. Let's treat it as such. And let's use the responsible, fit-for-purpose tools at our disposal to fight back.