In order to tackle chocolate theft, the ACS says shopkeepers need more help from police and stronger sentences for criminals.
Chief executive James Lowman said: “Confectionery, like other products commonly stolen from local shops, is being re-sold through illicit markets that help fund wider criminal activity.
“Alongside better police support and effective sentences for repeat offenders, we need action to shut down the networks re-selling stolen goods.”
A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesperson said its Retail Crime Strategy “brings together policing, retailers, the security industry and academia to collectively tackle this crime type”.
They said this included training and support for retailers, advising on best use of security and investment in technology and quicker and easier reporting systems.
They added it was seeing “much progress in police forces developing their response to retail crime”. They said Opal, policing’s central intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime, collates intelligence from retailers and police forces to map out potential organised crime activity across the country.
The team works with police forces to develop investigations and bring offenders to justice, they said.
