Shop theft: Understanding how neighbourhood context shapes the risk faced by retailers

• In Event: Routine Activities and Risk at Crime Places

Abstract

Despite the well documented crime drop, police recorded shop theft offences are on the increase (ONS 2015) in most parts of England and Wales. However, identifying the level of risk faced by retailers is problematic due to the under-reporting of offences, the nature of their retail activity, the level of target-hardening, and the context of their location. This paper draws upon two new approaches to the estimation of shop theft levels developed by the authors which utilise retail sector specific trends and an evaluation of the underlying causes of spatial variations in shop theft hotspots. The outcome of this empirical analysis has been supplemented by interviews with prolific offenders, and an analysis of the neighbourhood characteristics of retailers and shop theft offenders, in order to develop an index of potential shop theft risk faced by retailers operating within different neighbourhoods in an English city. The analysis presented here highlights how neighbourhood context exerts a significant independent impact upon the level of shop theft risk faced by retailers.

Authors

• James Hunter, Nottingham Trent University

• Laura Garius, Nottingham Trent University