A 48-year-old man has been arrested this morning in Grimsby as part of a clampdown on shoplifters.
Humberside Police are carrying out a day of action against shop theft in the town centre in the run up to Christmas.
Officers called at the homes of suspected shoplifters, many of them prolific offenders, and are now conducting high visibility patrols in the Top Town area, where they are taking a zero tolerance approach to not only shoplifting but begging and other anti-social behaviour.
Police volunteers are also manning a stall in Freshney Place helping shoppers to sign up to the Immobilise scheme, a register which makes it easier to trace valuables if they are stolen. After just over an hour, more than 20 people had signed up for the free service.
Sgt Simon Duffield said: "We are trying to get as many shoplifters as we can convicted before Christmas to make the area safer for shoppers. This operation is to send a message to shoplifters that we are coming to get you and we are going to lock you up for Christmas. Top Town is the main shopping area in North East Lincolnshire and it is where most people want to come and do their Christmas safe in the knowledge that they are not going to be blighted by beggars and shoplifters."
The arrested man, who is suspected of stealing bike parts from Wilkinsons on Bull Ring Lane on Thursday 21 November, will be interviewed by officers before a decision on whether to charge him is made.
The Grimsby Telegraph joined officers this morning as they went in search of suspected shoplifters. See Monday's paper for the full story.
Humberside Police are carrying out a day of action against shop theft in the town centre in the run up to Christmas.
Officers called at the homes of suspected shoplifters, many of them prolific offenders, and are now conducting high visibility patrols in the Top Town area, where they are taking a zero tolerance approach to not only shoplifting but begging and other anti-social behaviour.
Police volunteers are also manning a stall in Freshney Place helping shoppers to sign up to the Immobilise scheme, a register which makes it easier to trace valuables if they are stolen. After just over an hour, more than 20 people had signed up for the free service.
Sgt Simon Duffield said: "We are trying to get as many shoplifters as we can convicted before Christmas to make the area safer for shoppers. This operation is to send a message to shoplifters that we are coming to get you and we are going to lock you up for Christmas. Top Town is the main shopping area in North East Lincolnshire and it is where most people want to come and do their Christmas safe in the knowledge that they are not going to be blighted by beggars and shoplifters."
The arrested man, who is suspected of stealing bike parts from Wilkinsons on Bull Ring Lane on Thursday 21 November, will be interviewed by officers before a decision on whether to charge him is made.
The Grimsby Telegraph joined officers this morning as they went in search of suspected shoplifters. See Monday's paper for the full story.
