'Bare Faced Cheek' Is The New 'Public Shame'

The Met Commissioner has blamed the shoplifting epidemic on storekeepers - insisting they 'don't report anything' and 'need to do better'.

Who is surprised? We thought Dick was the worst Commissioner, well, here's an even bigger dick! 

Sir Mark Rowley was questioned by the Home Affairs Committee today on thieves who regularly 'clear whole shelves' and walk out of shops without paying. It follows a 20 per cent rise in shoplifting last year - with police recording 530,643 offences in England and Wales.However, Sir Mark has now placed the blame on shopkeepers, despite MPs questioning him over a lack over the lack of prosecutions.

'We encourage them all to report it and the good stores have got really good security regimes and report it and help us out in ways that I'll come to in a moment. Some stores don't.' He then added: 'Some of them don't report anything, if we go there they don't give us the CCTV of the crime, they won't give us any statements, they don't give their staff time to give statements and they don't pay their staff to go to court to give evidence.'

Hmm, what sort of stores would they be, I wonder? The smaller independent stores, I'm guessing, the ones that aren't part of a massive conglomerate that can afford to take the loss and the threats from lawyers? Maybe even sole proprietors of ethnicity themselves?  

MP Joani Reid was seen frowning at the response after having informed Sir Mark that staff had told her they 'don't bother' to report thefts anymore. She added: 'They've stopped reporting it because there's no point'. Ms Reid said she had witnessed a man raiding a store just this morning. She said: 'We're not talking about one or two goods but he cleared the whole shelves, put them into a trolley and walked out the shop.' Another MP, Margaret Mullane, later said: 'I represent an outer London borough and shoplifting is prolific. 'The shops are also cleared regularly around my seat.'

And did this direct anecdote give him pause? Reader, it did not: 

But Sir Mark doubled down on claims. He said: 'I have challenged some sectors of the retail section to do better.' The Commissioner admitted some national chains - like 'Boots' - were 'fantastic' and 'very serious about shoplifting normally'.

Well, now you're being challenged to do better!  And we can see what use that is. If you don't want the job, why did you take it?