Special Recognition Award

Operation STOPALL, Chief Inspector Marcus Cator and Gareth Lewis, LP and Security Manager, Southern Co-op

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary and Southern Co-op

Operation Stopall – A partnership approach, between Southern CO-OP, UKPAC and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary (H&IOW Constabulary), improving the reporting of retail crime, evidence provision and outcomes for the retail crime victim.
Operation STOPALL is a force wide initiative to tackle the most prolific retail offenders through partnership working.

This operation delivered against the Chief Constables 3 areas of focus to support the residents and businesses of H&IOW Constabulary:

Putting Victims First – reinforces the Constabularies commitment to listening to victims and reducing victimisation, whilst increasing reporting of incidents, improving information shared about the crimes taking place.
The improved reporting mechanism, partnership working and top offender focus, is rebuilding trust with the Police and leading to improved reporting rates. Victim’s views are presented to the courts, giving victims a voice. YTD reporting of retail crime for the force is up 17.8% (BCS 2025) and remains consistent.

Relentless Pursuit of Criminals – The response is focuses on prolific offenders causing the most harm within the retail and wider community. Partnership working, with effective communication and joint focus on those repeat & prolific offenders who target retail establishments, is enabling Police to focus resources on those causing the most harm, and having a detrimental impact on our communities. These offenders are linked to wider criminality and complex needs or addiction.

Exceptional Local Policing – The collaborative approach with improved evidence gathering has driven an efficient focused effort on those causing the most harm. Resulting in an increase in positive outcomes from cases submitted through the courts and a quicker response time for victim’s, from the initial report to positive action taken.

Delivery and Success
Since the launch of the project in Sept 2023, there have been 90 Operation Stopall reports from UKPAC on behalf of Southern CO-OP, relating to 58 individual offenders and resulting in 812 charges being secured, with a recorded value of theft at £79k. 94% of these reports were ready for police investigation and met the requirements of the force Retail Action Plan. The positive impact this has had on store colleague’s safety and wellbeing is not to be underestimated and has ensured a safer place to work.

Portsmouth Case Study
54 Operation Stopall reports have been in recorded in Portsmouth, relating to 30 separate offenders. 457 offences have been charged, having been fully evidenced by UKPAC, equating to approximately £53,500 of stolen stock.

32 of the Operation Stopall reports have resulted in custodial sentences, (2 cases were dealt with by out of county courts). The remaining 30 cases have generated 387 weeks of custodial sentences (average length of sentence 12.9 weeks)
The Remaining 22 Operation Stopall reports have resulted in:
13 cases receiving suspended sentences and or fines,
4 reports are currently awaiting trial,
3 reports are still under investigation
2 live FTA warrants for 2 separate offenders.

Savings to Policing and Partners:

The approach to identifying repeat offenders, driving the increase in crime reporting, the expedited securing of evidence and presenting the courts with a clearer picture of the level of offending from the risk cohort, to date, has H&IOW Constabulary a minimum of £18,000 of officer time. This saving does not include other attributed cost such as Interview time or vehicle use, whilst enabling officers to answer other calls to service. Of note, although no direct correlation, despite a rise in retail crime of 17.8% (BCS 2025), Portsmouth City has seen reporting of Retail Crime starting to reduce (only 1% growth) and a decrease in all reported crime by 3.9% this calendar YTD (997 crimes).

Southern CO-OP and UKPAC have been tracking the average weekly cost of the Operation Stopall offender. Their saving of loss through theft for the Southern Co-Op, based on average value stolen against convicted offender weeks in prison, is £130,574. The benefit of this partnership response, will have been felt by other retailers operating in the same areas, experiencing a reduction in offences as a result of the custodial sentences secured. Southern CO-OP have seen their in-store reporting flat-line and start to reduce across their estate.

Conclusion:
This Operation delivers against H&IOW Constabularies Retail Crime Action Plan and is a contributing factor to the Constabulary being identified in the BRC retailer survey 2025 as the top performing force in response to retail crime. The practice has been shared with other forces, and partners who are interested in how they can utilise this approach with the Constabulary and UKPAC

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