Police chief insists rise in Hartlepool shoplifting figures is not down to organised crime
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Chief Inspector Peter Littlewood instead believes that funding substance misuse and addiction is a “main driver” for retail crime in Hartlepool.
His comments came as part of the new Hartlepool Borough Council audit and governance committee investigation into “ways of designing out and reducing incidents of retail crime” over the coming year.
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Hide AdAs part of the committee’s work, Chief Insp Littlewood provided a breakdown of the latest official shoplifting figures.


He noted there were 2,117 reports of shop theft within Hartlepool in the 12 months to the end of September 2024, an increase of 16.7% from the previous year.
In the last six months there were 1,251 reports and in September alone there were 257, which marked “quite a bad month for retail crime in Hartlepool”.
Chief Insp Littlewood said: “What we find in Cleveland is that these are not organised criminals, these are people either acting alone or acting with maybe one or two other people.
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Hide Ad“The vast amount of shop theft in Cleveland is committed by a relatively small number of persistent offenders who unfortunately come to our attention on sometimes even a daily basis.
“I would suggest that the main driver behind our shop thefts and our more prolific shoplifters in Cleveland is substance misuse.
"In our experience and the information I’m aware of is that people are stealing to fund addictions.”
He also noted the detection rate for solving retail crimes in Hartlepool is 29.6% for the year up to the end of September 2024, “significantly” above the national average of around 16.4%.
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Hide AdChief Insp Littlewood, who works with Hartlepool neighbourhood policing and is also Cleveland Police’s tactical lead for retail crime, added a variety of work is ongoing to try and tackle the issue, including holding monthly meetings and working with vulnerable stores.
He continued: “The main deterrent I find when it comes to any acquisitive crime is making the crime physically difficult for the offender.”
Council officers outlined how the committee’s investigation into the issue will span several meetings and look further into the factors that drive retail crime and the impact it has.
They will also seek the views of residents and businesses.