Croydon Council plans to introduce a pilot scheme within the next couple of months to electronically tag prolific shoplifters. This initiative would make Croydon the first London borough to implement such a system.
Jason Perry, the Conservative elected mayor of Croydon, stated that he is discussing the implementation with the Metropolitan Police and the local court system. The tagging system would be placed on individuals and run through these authorities.
The idea for electronic tagging was first introduced in East Sussex last year by Sussex's Conservative police and crime commissioner, Katy Bourne. That scheme involved fitting a small number of prolific shoplifters with GPS ankle tags to monitor their entry into banned shopping areas.
Croydon Council reported a decrease in shoplifting in the borough over the past year, with 4,796 reported shop thefts in the town centre compared to 5,043 the previous year. Mayor Perry attributed this reduction to measures including live facial recognition cameras and a public space protection order.
Ben Selvaratnam, owner of Freshfields Market in Croydon, cautiously welcomed the plans, noting that his business experiences multiple shoplifting incidents daily. Councillor Janet Campbell of the Labour group on Croydon Council supported the idea but requested more details on funding and implementation.