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A councilor has said he knocked a ‘shoplifter’ to the ground in central London on Remembrance Day.
Conservative Ed Pitt Ford, who represents the Pimlico North ward at Westminster City Council, said he confronted the man at an M&S Food in Green Park after entering the store to buy food.
He said a staff member had gotten into an argument with someone he claimed was a shoplifter, but the store did not ask police to investigate.
The Metropolitan Police said the case had been closed, the victim was unwilling to make a statement and the goods had been recovered. M&S was contacted for comment. Westminster City Council declined to comment.
Ford, who said he had training in how to handle such situations, explained that after intervening, he “put the shoplifter on the ground outside in the street.” It was then that I realized that the staff did not leave the store to come and support me. “.
He said the alleged shoplifter was then helped by an accomplice or an unwitting member of the public and the councilor then re-entered the store.
“Normally I wouldn’t get involved, but at this point there was a risk that the shopkeeper would actually get into a fight with the person who stole the wine, so I didn’t want any harm to come to him or her,” he said.
“The store staff weren’t sure if it was worth calling the police, but they did. The police said it would take an hour for them to arrive.”
Ford claimed the Met’s response was poor and although M&S Food did not ask police to investigate, he said the thief left a phone at the scene which could have been combed for fingerprints.
“People stealing phones and you see petty theft, and the staff here deal with that on a daily basis, they don’t feel like there is support from the police,” he continued.
The Met Police said the investigation was complete and the case was closed.
Police said the victim was unwilling to make a statement and the items were recovered.
Ford said that while police numbers had increased in the capital, the number of reported crimes had also risen. He called on London Mayor Sadiq Khan to do more to reduce crime in the area.
This could include opening more police stations and increasing local police presence in the early mornings and evenings “when you need them most”, he added.
A City Hall spokesperson said it was working with the Met to tackle shoplifting and that the mayor had invested “record amounts” in community policing, in addition to directly funding an additional 1,300 police officers on the streets of London.
They added that the Government’s police funding scheme was still being developed and that the Mayor and the Met were in close contact with ministers.
It comes after Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he could not rule out more police stations being closed depending on the outcome of that settlement.
A Home Office spokesperson previously said the budget had seen an increase in funding for the Met, with the force receiving a total of £3.5 billion in funding in 2024-25, in addition to the £37.4 million was foreseen for the reward for 2024-2025. , which has been allocated outside the police funding scheme.
The Local Government Association found that shoplifting was the third most reported victim crime in Westminster City in the 12 months to June 2024, with 5,763 incidents recorded.
MET data also showed that Westminster had the highest crime rate in the capital, with almost 365 crimes recorded per 1,000 residents.
Commander Glen Pavelin said the force aimed to keep two police officers and one police community support officer (PCSO) in every London borough at any time.
“Every effort is made to ensure that community officers can reach their patrol areas within reasonable timescales to maximize visibility and respond to an incident as quickly as possible,” he said.
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