In recent months, the staff of one Co-op store in Leeds have been “threatened with razors, knives, screwdrivers, needles and hammers” by increasingly brazen and aggressive shoplifters, said Emine Sinmaz in The Guardian. “It feels like these offenders can simply come in and take what they want, and do what they want,” says David, the shop’s manager. “Not one or two items – they come in with bags, sacks or clothing, which can conceal hundreds of pounds of stock – coffee, meat, wine, laundry gel, anything that can be re-sold. It is looting.” The thieves know that the police usually don’t have the resources to attend, let alone arrest anyone. This is a growing nationwide problem: according to the British Retail Consortium, shoplifting has shot up in the past three…
