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The Crime and Policing Act 2026: what it means for retail

Blog/Retail·15 Jun 2026

On 30 April 2026, the UK government enacted the Crime and Policing Act 2026 — over 70 measures described by the Minister for Crime and Policing as "the biggest overhaul of crime-fighting powers in a generation." The official retail crime factsheet makes the focus clear: two of the Act's headline measures target retail directly.

The legislation strengthens what happens after an incident — stiffer penalties, broader prosecution powers, and new tools to ban repeat offenders. But most shoplifting incidents are only discovered after the offender has already left. The law changes the consequences. Retailers still need to close the gap between an incident happening and someone knowing about it.

The numbers behind the legislation

The scale of the problem the Act is responding to is worth stating plainly:

  • 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers every day
  • 5.5 million shoplifting incidents recorded by retailers annually, costing an estimated £408 million in direct losses (BRC Crime Survey 2025)
  • 535,724 retail crime offences recorded by police in the year ending December 2025 — less than 10% of the incidents retailers actually detect (ONS / BRC)
  • £5 billion spent by retailers on crime prevention over the past five years
  • 10% of offenders responsible for 70% of retail crime incidents

That last statistic is particularly telling. Retail crime is heavily concentrated among repeat offenders — which is exactly what the new legislation targets.

What's changed for retail

Assault on retail workers is now a standalone offence. Previously, assaulting a shop worker was prosecuted under general assault statutes. The new Act creates a specific offence carrying up to 6 months in prison and/or an unlimited fine. Critically, a first conviction now carries a presumption of a Criminal Behaviour Order — meaning courts can bar offenders from the affected premises. A Usdaw Freedom from Fear survey of nearly 9,000 retail staff found that 78% were verbally abused in 2025, 54% received threats of violence, and 11% were physically assaulted.

The £200 shoplifting threshold has been eliminated. The Act repeals Section 22A of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, which previously made thefts under £200 summary-only — effectively limiting how these cases were prosecuted. All shoplifting is now triable as general theft, carrying a maximum sentence of 7 years. Early signs suggest enforcement is responding: shop theft charges rose 17% in one year to 116,641.

Respect orders can ban repeat offenders from town centres. Police can now apply for court orders that prohibit known repeat offenders from entering specific areas. For retailers dealing with the same individuals repeatedly — the 10% causing 70% of incidents — this is a meaningful enforcement tool.

What the industry is saying

Helen Dickinson, CEO of the British Retail Consortium, put it clearly: "Laws alone won't keep retail workers safe. What matters now is consistent, visible police enforcement so colleagues can genuinely feel safe and protected at work."

Ken Murphy at Tesco and Kari Rodgers at Primark both welcomed the changes. The Association of Convenience Stores emphasised that "these new powers need to be backed by local police forces on the ground" to break reoffending cycles.

The consensus is cautious optimism. The legislation is strong. Whether it translates into changed behaviour depends on enforcement.

Why evidence quality matters more now

Here's the shift retailers should pay attention to: with the £200 threshold gone and a standalone assault offence in place, police and prosecutors have stronger tools — but they still need evidence to act on.

That means the quality of what a retailer can provide after an incident matters more than it did before. Timestamped footage, clear snapshots, and a documented timeline of suspicious behaviour are the difference between a report that gets followed up and one that doesn't.

Most existing CCTV systems record continuously but don't flag anything in real time. Staff review footage after the fact — if they review it at all. The result is that even when an incident is serious enough to prosecute, the evidence is often too late, too unclear, or too difficult to locate.

This is the specific problem Lexerus solves. The system detects suspicious behaviour as it happens, alerts the nearest staff member within seconds, and automatically captures a timestamped snapshot and video clip of the event. When an incident does escalate — and police now have stronger powers to act — the retailer has evidence ready to hand over, not hours of footage to scrub through.

The Act changes the consequences of retail crime. Lexerus helps retailers capture the evidence needed to make those consequences real.

What this means going forward

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 is a clear signal that retail crime is being treated as a priority at the legislative level. For retailers, the practical question shifts from will anyone care? to can we provide the evidence needed to make enforcement work?

Stronger laws only deliver results when there's something to enforce against. The retailers who benefit most from this Act won't just be the ones who report incidents — they'll be the ones who can back those reports with clear, timely evidence.

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