Shoplifters target expensive meat

Some shops are tagging high-value meat to prevent theft

Shoplifters are stealing expensive cuts of meat as new crime patterns emerge due to the credit crunch.

Gwent Police Chief Constable Mick Giannasi said community intelligence suggested meat such as large packets of bacon was being targeted.

Retail groups said some shops had been forced to use electronic tags to prevent the theft of high-value meat.

Police have also seen increases in thefts of metal and fuel during the economic downturn.

"We constantly monitor the environment to see what's happening so we look at crime trends, we look at intelligence and we talk to our communities.

"We're starting to pick up signs that there are crime trends associated with the economic situation," said Mr Giannasi.

Every walk of life is affected by the economic situation and crime is no different Gwent Police Chief Constable Mick Giannasi

He said shoplifters had always targeted items such as alcohol, spirits and jars of coffee but a new trend appeared to be emerging.

"We're just picking up from community intelligence things like joints of meat and large packs of bacon [being stolen] which are now very expensive," he said.

"People are stealing those, perhaps to order, to sell on to get money to buy drugs or maybe just because they can't afford to buy food."

He added there had only been a slight increase in shoplifting but as goods became more expensive, it was easier to trade them as a way, for example, of funding a drug habit.

Richard Dodd of the British Retail Consortium also said there was evidence in the UK that people were stealing items to eat themselves.

"We have expressed concern that the amount of shoplifting is going up as a result of the tough economic conditions," he said.

Petrol thefts

"Generally theft from shops is driven by people stealing in a systematic way to fund a drug habit but there's some evidence that a slightly bigger range of things are being stolen including food items.

"A small number of stores in some areas are tagging higher value cuts of meat because they have found they are increasingly likely to be stolen."

Mr Giannasi said every walk of life was affected by the economic situation and crime was no different.

"We ask ourselves what's happening, where can we best put our resources. We have been doing operations directly in response to economic-related issues," he said.

"Metal thefts started to appear, we saw an increase, so we put a response in and that had an impact in bringing it down.

"We're now looking at petrol thefts using our roads policing unit."

But the economic situation may also help reduce certain types of crime.

Mr Giannasi said there appeared to be less drinking in town centres during weekend evenings which may have led to a reduction in assaults.

"Whether that's about good policing or whether it's about a whole series of things, but there appears to be a relationship between the reduction of assaults in city centres and the economic situation," he said.

The Gwent force area saw crime reduced by one-fifth over the past three years, he added.