Police in Preston blend in with shoppers to help tackle shoplifting
Police officers in Preston have been blending in with shoppers and store staff as they continue to tackle shoplifting in the city.
Yesterday, officers from the City Centre and Task Force teams carried out another operation to tackle shoplifting.
Throughout the day, uniformed and plain-clothed officers carried out foot patrols in the busy shopping areas of the City Centre, providing reassurance and assistance to members of the public and shop staff.
What did they get up to?
· Conducted 10 stop searches, resulting in one positive outcome for cannabis.
· Provided reassurance visits to numerous stores.
· Arrested one man on suspicion of theft from a shop.
· Located one missing person.
· Received numerous intel reports.
Did it produce any results?
Today, we can now tell you that Lyndon Cornwell, 32, of St Aidan’s Park, Bamber Bridge, is charged with three counts of theft from a shop. He will appear at Preston Magistrates court this morning.
What has been said about the operation?
Sgt Tom Rettie from Preston City Centre’s Policing Team said: “We regularly carry out operations, like this one, to ensure that people feel safe when they come into Preston City Centre.
“We take reports from the public seriously; they help us to target our resource to where it is needed and I would urge anyone who hasn’t already done so to complete our Lancashire Talking survey and tell us about the issues which matter to them in the area that they live.”
Operation Vulture is Lancashire Constabulary’s response to shoplifting across the county, backed by Lancashire's Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw.
The operation sees dedicated officers undertaking hotspot patrolling, increasing their visibility in targeted areas and creating strong partnerships with retailers across the county to better share intelligence, get a deeper understanding of retail crime and identify more offenders.