Caversham Crimefighters Join Forces to Beat Shoplifters: With help from new tech

Local traders in Caversham have taken an innovative approach to beating shoplifters: collective

crimefighting and new technology.

Caversham's cluster of independent shops and cafés has long given it a village feel and its local

traders are embracing tactics used by big cities to help police target troublemakers and protect

the people who shop there.

'Liz Felix, who runs Liz Felix Hats on Church Road in Caversham, said: "We want to look after our

customers as well as each other's shops. Looking out for one another is just an extension of

looking out for our neighbours."

Local businesses have combined forces through the Caversham Traders Association (CTA), where

each member is determined to support one another amid a shoplifting crisis that is harming

independent businesses nationwide.

There is an active WhatsApp group where traders flag suspicious behaviour in real time, a

description, a photo, a heads-up that someone spotted loitering outside one shop has just walked

into the next door along. CCTV footage is shared between businesses too, helping police piece

together a fuller picture of repeat offenders rather than each trader holding only a fragment of the

same story.

Traders are also encouraged to report every incident , however small, through DISC (the

Documenting Individuals Safety and Crime system), a digital platform increasingly used by

Business Improvement Districts and trader groups across the country to log shoplifting and antisocial behaviour. That data doesn't just sit in a database: it directly informs Thames Valley Police's decisions on where to allocate neighbourhood patrols and visible police presence.

"It's about looking out for the shop next door the same way you'd want them looking out for

yours," said Jodie from The Artisan Uprising Markets "We can't compete with the big chains on

security budgets, but we can compete on knowing our customers, knowing our street, and making

sure the police know exactly where the problems are."

Shoplifting in England and Wales has hit its highest level since records began, adding roughly £133

to the average household's annual shopping bill. Nationally, the British Retail Consortium's latest

crime survey found retailers losing an estimated £2.2 billion a year to theft, a statistic that, on its

own, could leave independent traders feeling like they're fighting a losing battle.

With organised theft and repeat offending continuing to climb nationally, the message from

Caversham is a proactive one: independent traders don't have to face shoplifting alone and by

working together, reporting consistently, and feeding accurate data into systems like DISC, they're

helping shape exactly where police protection is focused next.

By Katia Major, Yoga Reading