Districts across the force are continuing to clamp down on retail crime, through a variety of operations, days of action, and proactive work to bring offenders to justice.
This continued work comes on the back of a further year of improvement, which saw more than 100 shoplifters brought to justice every week in Greater Manchester. More than 5,000 shoplifting offences in the year up to November 2024 were solved – a huge increase on recent years.
In total, 893 arrests were made in the three months up until 3 April 2025, with a further 707 charges in that same period.
Through continued partnerships with local stores and partners, officers are continuing to tackle retail crime, through both preventative and proactive work.
This has seen everything from days of actions – such as Stockport’s crime-busting Operation Rimini – to dedicated units, including Bolton’s shoplifting team, which has secured countless arrests and charges. Crime prevention team additionally provide material when and where they can to districts, as well as working directly with stores and security to help tackle any issues.
From a leadership level, every district across the force continues to have a retail crime SPOC, who attend monthly meetings to share best practice with each other. These meetings are overseen by the force lead for retail crime, Supt Cara Charlesworth, who also assists in feeding knowledge and skills into national groups.
Recent events attended by officers include the retail risk conference, which took place in London, and saw multiple workshops, talks, and skill-sharing among partners and other police forces.
Retail crime, shoplifting, and violence against workers remains a priority for GMP, and work will continue throughout this year, as problem-solving teams carry on making a difference to communities across Greater Manchester.
Supt Cara Charlesworth, force lead for retail crime, said:
Every year we strive to improve our service to our business community across Greater Manchester, I am really pleased with the progress that has been made over the last couple of years and the partnership work that is going from strength to strength.
This year alone, we have secured hundreds of arrests and charges, and at times last year, we were locking up 100 suspects every single week. This momentum has continued into 2025 with solved rates for retail crime continuing to rise.
We completely understand the frustrations that businesses have when it comes to shoplifters, and I want to reassure them that we stand firmly alongside them. Whether you work in a large multinational supermarket or a local corner shop; we are there for you.
I would urge any stores with any ongoing issues to get in touch with their local neighbourhood team, as they will be best-placed to help with your queries.
