Academics at City St George’s conduct research which makes a positive impact on society, and two professors from the School of Policy & Global Affairs exemplify research at the frontier of practice. Professor Emmeline Taylor specialises in understanding serious acquisitive crime and business crime with a focus on the retail sector; and Professor Katrin Hohl’s research concerns public trust in the police and how they respond to sexual violence and domestic abuse.
Britain’s shoplifting epidemic
Newspaper headlines and social media sites regularly feature shocking videos of Britain’s ‘shoplifting epidemic’, and a survey published in January 2025 revealed the alarming scale of the problem. The annual crime survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), showed that in the 12 months to September 2024, incidents of customer theft reported by retailers in the UK rose by 3.7 million to 20.4 million, and cost retailers £2billion.
According to the survey, violence and abuse against shopworkers also rose by 50 per cent, with more than 2,000 such incidents recorded on average per day. This startling statistic is echoed by research from Professor Emmeline Taylor, Professor of Criminology, who has highlighted the increasing rates of theft and associated violence, as well as the chronic under-reporting to the police which she estimates sits at below 3 per cent.
Professor Taylor worked with the Co-op Group to author the report Stealing with Impunity. This showed Co-op reporting record levels of crime in 2023 with over 330,000 incidents of shoplifting, abuse, violence and antisocial behaviour (a 44 per cent year-on-year increase).
Professor Taylor says: “The term ‘shoplifting’ prompts images of someone sneaking a chocolate bar into their pocket – it seems relatively trivial and victimless. But industry reports indicate that what is occurring in city centres is far from trivial, it’s organised and systematic looting.”
In September 2024, Professor Taylor was invited to give evidence to a Justice and Home Affairs Select Committee meeting in the House of Lords on the subject of Tackling Shoplifting. She also submitted written evidence.
Explaining some of the causes behind the rise in shop theft, she told the Committee:
“The underlying causes of shoplifting are typically social factors: poverty, homelessness, mental health issues, drug addiction. We know that the austerity measures for over a decade amplified these issues to create the perfect storm.”
Professor Taylor also cited the introduction of new legislation in 2014, which essentially downgraded ‘shoplifting’ offences where the value is less than £200.
Organised criminals stealing in bulk to sell on for profit are also driving up retail crime. Retailers Against Crime estimate there could be 40 organised crime groups targeting retailers across Scotland alone. Some offenders describe “stealing to order” from shopping lists.
The recommendations from the Justice and Home Affairs Select Committee draw extensively on the written and oral evidence submitted by Professor Taylor. In a letter to the Minister for Policing, Crime and Fire Prevention, the Rt. Hon. Dame Diana Johnson, the committee Chair outlined that ‘we agree with our witness, Professor Emmeline Taylor, that the word “shoplifting” is unhelpful and recommend phasing it out.’
Developing a plan of action
Professor Taylor’s report outlined a 10-step action plan for improvement. Suggested actions include:
- The introduction of a standalone offence for the protection of retail workers
- Campaigns to target the stolen goods market
- Regulation of e-commerce sites and online marketplaces
- Police and Crime Commissions (PCCS) to commit to developing a strategy to tackle prolific retail crime in their Police and Crime Plans.
Commenting on the publication of her report, Professor Taylor said:
“Retail crime not only impacts on a business’s ability to operate safely and profitably but as my report demonstrates it also causes serious harm to shop workers, both physically and mentally, and to communities that are blighted by persistent offending.”
“The police in England and Wales have lost grip on the scale and severity of acquisitive crime, and, in turn, retailers have lost confidence in them and the wider criminal justice system.”
“By taking decisive action to tackle high-volume, high-impact retail crime, the police and retail industry can work together to create safer communities in which to live, work and shop.”
Several of the recommendations have been committed to by the government. In terms of legislation, the current government has committed to the introduction of a standalone offence for assaulting a shop worker and repealing section 176 of the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 which categorises incidents of shop theft where the value of stolen goods does not exceed £200 as “low-value shoplifting”, a summary offence.
Content warning: The following section makes recurring reference to sexual violence, which some readers may find distressing.
Improving access to justice for sexual assault victims
The number of police-recorded adult rapes has almost doubled since 2016. The police recorded 44,832 adult rapes in the year ending September 2023, compared to 24,163 in the year ending September 2016.
Professor Katrin Hohl OBE is Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, and her research investigates violence against women and girls and the police response.
Katrin led a landmark survey of rape and sexual assault survivors’ experience of the police in England and Wales. Over 4,000 survivors who completed the survey over the course of 18 months, 75 per cent said that their mental health had worsened as a direct result of what the police did, or failed to do, in their case. More than half of respondents reported a negative impact on their physical health because of their police experience. 42 per cent of respondents did not feel believed, and only 37 per cent of respondents said that officers made them feel like they mattered. 56 per cent of respondents said they are unlikely to report a rape to the police again.
The results of the survey garnered significant media attention, and in the Guardian’s report, Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said the findings were “stark”. She added that the government were “committed to using these insights to deliver lasting improvements in policing moving forwards.”
Translating research statistics into positive change
Professor Hohl was the joint academic lead of Operation Soteria Bluestone, a groundbreaking Home Office-funded collaboration, aimed at radically transforming police responses to rape and other sexual offences. Launched at the end of 2022, the programme brings together police forces with academics, using evidence and new insight to enable forces and prosecutors to transform how they respond and treat victims. The programme developed principles, guidance, toolkits and other practical materials to support officers to better investigate sexual offending behaviour and to better engage with victims in line with their rights and needs.
It has been rolled out nationally and is now mandatory for all police forces in England and Wales. As a result, the charge rate nationally has gone from 2-3% in 2021 to 6 per cent currently.
The programme has been called a ‘game-changer for policing’ and a recent report by the National Audit Office singles out Soteria as the one effective programme in this area that has been funded and provided value for money over the last few years.
Following an appearance at the Home Affairs Committee in February 2024, Professor Hohl submitted further written responses to the Committee’s questions. She wrote:
“My own research and that of others has shown that, at present, all too many victims report that the criminal justice process had negative impacts on their mental health, physical health, personal safety, and trust in the police. Fixing this requires strengthening victim rights and increasing victim support (as well as protecting suspect rights), addressing the causes of high victim withdrawal rates, the court backlogs and associated delays in cases going to trial. I would encourage the government to go much further in those areas, too.”
In early 2024, Professor Hohl was appointed the Independent Advisor to the UK government on Criminal Justice Responses to Sexual Violence. As a result of her research, Professor Hohl was awarded an OBE in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours, for services to victims of sexual violence.
Writing in the 2024 Rape Review Progress Update, the Lord Chancellor wrote that Professor Hohl’s expertise and research “will be invaluable to unlocking the most challenging systemic issues that remain.”