BY MICHAEL BRESLIN
Reported shoplifting incidents in Fermanagh have doubled over a five-year period, rising to 147 by 31st March his year from 70 in 2002/03, members of the Fermanagh District Policing Partnership were informed last week.
The statistics were included in a 'Business Crime' report drawn up by the Fermanagh Area Command Unit and were presented by Chief Inspector Alywin Barton. He told the meeting that, over the past two years, there had been an increase in the number of clearances, just over 50 per cent. And, he suggested that this was due in no small part to the work of the local Crime Prevention Officer.
"She has worked with the retail sector", he explained, "to provide training and raise the awareness of staff to help them both prevent and detect shoplifting. This is a major contributory factor to the large increase in reported offences in 2006/07".
The PSNI Report covers other aspects of business crime, including thefts by employees, customers making off without payment, forgery and counterfeiting, and robbery, the rarest of all. For instance, there was no reported on-site robbery in the year ending 31st March last. There were two the previous year, which were solved, four in 2004/05 (one cleared), eight the year previous to that (two of which were solved), and four in 2002/03, none of which were solved.
In relation to shoplifting, the DPP was told that Enniskillen had 'a very prolific' group of offenders who were active during the latter half of last year. However, a number of successful operations by the Crime Team produced significant arrests and this, together with PSNI advice to those who had suffered previously, brought the crime spree to an end.
Mr Barton added that the recent increase in the use of internal cctv had helped boost detections and had significantly increased the number of crimes reported.
Similarly, cctv had led to an increase in the number of reported, and subsequently detected, thefts by employees where, after two successive years with 10 per year reported, there were just four employee thefts reported last year.
However, the members were reminded this was a crime that went under-reported due to the fact that businesses dealt with it in-house and without involving the Police. Of those four reported last year, three were cleared.
People filling at the petrol forecourt and then driving off without paying remains a constant offence in Fermanagh and, given the fact that the vehicles involved are not registered, the detection rates suffer.
Last year, for instance, there were 19 incidents reported of which only four were cleared. The previous year was better: 17 reported crimes and six cleared up.
One vastly under-reported crime, the meeting was told, is using counterfeit currency and the supply of counterfeit goods.
Chief Inspector Barton commented: "The offences around forged and counterfeit goods are committed when a person is found to be in possession. Whilst police have made large seizures in recent years, especially in outdoor markets, unless the goods were found in someone's possession, the crime of 'possession' was not complete".
Given that caveat, it is not surprising there was only the one recorded crime under this category last year, although there were four the previous year, three of which were cleared up.
