New retail crime app helps track down shoplifters

The police and crime commissioner for Hertfordshire, Jonathan Ash-Edwards, said retailers wanted easier ways to report offences and more action against repeat offenders [Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire] A system that helps retailers report offences such as shoplifting has been hailed a success by police.

The Auror platform was rolled out in April in Hertfordshire, allowing large retailers to report crimes via an online app directly to police and upload images such as CCTV footage.

Supt Jamie Fowler, who leads on retail crime in the county, said it had helped bring "more offenders to justice".

He said in one instance the platform helped identify 27 linked offences and that there had been a 50% increase in reports of retail crime in September so far, compared with the same month last year.

Fowler said his team had noticed a similar increase in the number of suspects identified.