Reported robbery and theft offences on the rise in South Yorkshire, new figures show
Police recorded more robbery and theft offences in South Yorkshire last year, new figures show.
It comes as the policing minister said too many town centres have been "decimated" by shoplifting and communities have been "left shaken" by knife crime, snatch theft and robbery.
Home Office figures show 2,044 robbery crimes were recorded by South Yorkshire Police in the year to June – up 5 per cent from 1,949 the year before.
Similarly, theft offences increased 1 per cent from 49,861 in the year to June 2023 to 50,500 last year.
Robbery is a seperate offence to theft as it involves force or the threat of force.
In South Yorkshire, 14,998 shoplifting offences were recorded last year, a 31 per cent increase on the year before.
Theft from the person crimes rose slightly in the area, with 1,096 logged in 2023-24.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said the data showed the "scale of the challenge we have inherited in our mission to make streets safer".
Dame Diana added: "Too many town centres have been decimated by record levels of shoplifting, and communities have been left shaken by rising levels of knife crime, snatch theft and robbery.
"This Government will restore neighbourhood policing across the country, put thousands more dedicated officers out on our streets and scrap the £200 shoplifting threshold, bringing an end to the effective impunity for thieves who steal low value goods."
Meanwhile, the number of robberies and thefts recorded by police forces across England and Wales rose by 6 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.
The Office for National Statistics said the rise in theft was predominantly the result of increases in shoplifting offences and "theft from the person" offences.
Graham Wynn, British Retail Consortium assistant director of regulatory affairs, said the figures "reflect the scale of the issue which retailers face on a day-to-day basis".
He added: "Shoplifting remains at its highest level in 20 years and cost retailers £1.8 billion last year. The thieves committing these crimes are becoming bolder, more aggressive, and are more frequently armed with weapons.
"The Government must ensure the standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker passes into law as soon as possible to protect all retail workers and to send a clear message that this behaviour will not be tolerated."
He added creating this new offence would give police the data they need to allocate resources to "tackle this epidemic".