Whanganui stores increasingly targeted by shoplifters, police say

After a bad year for shoplifting at his three stores, Andersons Menswear owner Darrell Smith says shoplifting has decreased since moving to new premises in Victoria Ave.

Shoplifting is on the rise in Whanganui and police say they will be increasingly vigilant with further increases expected over the Christmas season.

Senior Sergeant Shayne Wainhouse said shoplifting, particularly at supermarkets, had increased in the past four to six weeks.

"Theft reports from supermarkets have gone from around one per week to around three with a significant increase in the value [quantity] of items being stolen," Wainhouse said.

"A fair proportion include meat items and the total for each report ranges between $300 to $500. All local supermarkets have very good security measures in place, including CCTV systems and security staff that are well trained in identifying this type of offending."

Supermarkets were providing a high standard of evidence to police which usually led to the suspects being quickly identified and apprehended, Wainhouse said.

Whanganui Police recently arrested a 29-year-old woman who had allegedly been involved in supermarket thefts in Wellington, Palmerston North and Christchurch. The woman was due to appear in court on Wednesday, November 14.

There had been some cross border offending, where offenders travel between towns and cities, "but not significantly so", Wainhouse said. The majority of people arrested by Whanganui Police for shoplifting were locals.

There had also been an increase in shoplifting from Whanganui homeware and sports stores, with one or two reports per week where previously there was one report every week or two, Wainhouse said.

"As with the supermarkets, these stores have very good security measures that inevitably lead to an early apprehension.

"I expect that this trend will continue over the Christmas seasonal period as has been evidenced in the past. Police, along with support partners Wanganui Community Patrol, Mainstreet Whanganui and Maori Wardens, will have an increased presence in these areas to deter offenders.

"Police have also been working with various small business retail staff in the CBD to provide advice and training on how to prevent shoplifting."

Business owner Darrell Smith said there had been significant shoplifting in all three of his Whanganui clothing stores in the past year.

Smith and his wife Keryn run Andersons Menswear, Noire and Andersons Uniforms in the central city.

"In the first five years we were here, there was no significant shoplifting but it has increased and the last year was the biggest by far," Smith said.

"We had 10 pairs of Canterbury track pants stolen from our uniform shop. Eight jumpers were stolen six months ago from the ladieswear shop and six high-end jackets from the menswear shop.

"I don't think the thefts were related. They were different groups.

"They come in and look at the shop, how many people are in the shop and what they want to take. They figure out what's the easiest thing to get and the largest value to sell on the street. The last time it happened, a group came in to look around and 30 minutes later they came back."

Smith said he had received good assistance from Whanganui Police and had been installing CCTV as a deterrent in all his shops. There had been no shoplifting issues at the menswear shop since it moved to new premises in April.

Michelle Schimanski, manager of Kathmandu's Whanganui store, said there had been problems with shoplifting in the past "but not as much as you would expect".

"There was a big one by an organised group.

"They were caught in Hawke's Bay. They had come down the North Island from Auckland, then went to Wellington and back up. It was the first one we have had in a very long time.

"The last attempted one, a person tried to run out with five items but a man tackled him on the street and we got all the items back.

"We're quite lucky. Generally, we don't get hit [by shoplifters]."