Over £3k of swag recovered in Ipswich, from cheese to coffee

Adam, Curtis and Evander make up the town’s Street Security Team, working under the My Local Bobby scheme, which mostly deploys rangers in and around London, working in partnership with Ipswich Central.

For the Street Security team, a typical day consists of responding to radio calls from businesses in the town, as well as the police, apprehending thieves, dealing with anti-social behaviour, or offering support to people in the community where it is needed, such as elderly people who have stumbled in the street.

Street Security rangers Adam and Curtis on patrol in Ipswich town centre. Image: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond, Newsquest)From left to right, Ipswich street rangers Evander, Adam, who joined the team in February after a career in the Metropolitan Police, and Curtis. Image: Ipswich Central (Image: Ipswich Central)

They make citizens arrests if necessary, and private prosecution can be brought through My Local Bobby.

Latest crime figures show that, while most crimes are decreasing, shoplifting is steadily on the rise, with many charitable organisations believing the rising cost of living to be a major factor.

But what does a typical shoplifter in Ipswich look like?

For the most part, said Evander, there is no typical shoplifter, for the reasons that lead people to stealing, and the items they choose to take, are many and varied.

“There are different categories of shoplifting – those who do it to feed an addiction or habit, those who do it for profit, there are chancers, and then there are some cases of genuine, authentic need, where people feel like it’s their last resort,” he said.

However, the team say that examples of people resorting to stealing items they need are very much the minority.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve only seen one case like that,” said Adam. “I stopped a lad who I had seen a couple of times. He opened his bag – and he had carton of eggs and box of Tampax for his mum and his sister.”

• On patrol with Ipswich Central's strengthened patrol team

There are other examples of people stealing in the town for other reasons though, and many cases of young people stealing from shops, which they suspect is due to the recent Easter Holidays.

They recently stopped a trio of teenage girls who were weighed down with bags of clothes and accessories from New Look, Primark and other clothing stores.

After being questioned by the rangers, the girls admitted that the items were stolen – and that they had money on them which they could have used to pay for their haul.

Stolen items the team have recovered include this coat with the tag still on. Image: Ipswich Central (Image: Ipswich Central)A bag full of stolen cans of beer recovered by the team. Image: Ipswich Central (Image: Ipswich Central)One of the incidents the team responded to included the theft of 20 blocks of cheese. Image: Ipswich Central (Image: Ipswich Central)The team have recovered stolen pairs of trainers. Image: Ipswich Central (Image: Ipswich Central)

Wherever possible, the bobbies will retrieve and return stolen items. Between February and March, an impressive £3,400 of swag was recovered.

In the same period, the team recorded 59 incidents needing their assistance, an average of two a day. Of these, 31 were related to theft or potential theft, with items recovered; 19 were incidents of assistance being needed for someone in the community; and 9 were incidents of tackling anti-social behaviour.

Already this month, £1,000 of loot has been recovered.

Curtis and Adam on patrol outside the Willis building. Image: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond, Newsquest)

Curtis explained that some shoplifters are on the lookout for items which can be sold quickly and easily to make a profit.

“Like washing pods – everyone needs washing pods,” he explained. After a recent incident, the team apprehended thieves who had stolen six boxes of washing pods, eight jars of coffee, and 20 blocks of cheese.

The radios they carry, which they use to quickly share descriptions of would-be shoplifters, are their most vital tool, said Evander.

He remembers listening to the description of a shoplifter who had stolen a bottle of fragrance from TK Maxx – only to look up and spot the thief ahead of him, with the perfume sticking out of his pocket.

But the most memorable incident concerned the theft of an item which he describes as an “adult toy”.

“When I caught up with him, he didn’t have a bag, so I had to carry it back by hand,” he laughed.

For more information about My Local Bobby, visit: www.ipswichcentral.com/our-projects/street-rangers