POLICE are cracking down on serial shoplifters in Mildenhall.
Since the start of the year, the number of reported incidents has spiralled to already half of what it was for the whole of 2008, while detection rates are down by more than 15 per cent.
In a bid to catch more thieves, before they have sold what t
hey have stolen, Mildenhall police have launched Operation Bindweed.
Sgt Peter Ferrie, of the Mildenhall Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: "The whole idea is to try to catch these criminals much quicker than in the past.
"We have identified six to eight people who have been shoplifting on a regular basis and the main things they have been stealing are meat and alcohol as they are the sort of products they know that they can get money for.
"What we are aiming to do is to try to get CCTV images viewed as quickly as possible once an incident has occurred and take more witness statements."
Officers have already been able to arrest one persistent shoplifter who was caught, before the goods he stole could be sold. He was identified on CCTV images and is now serving a prison term.
Sgt Ferrie added: "This is the benefit of this scheme. By taking quick action these are the results we can get.
"I am hopeful that when we review this, the results will be positive."
Officers will be visiting every restaurant and pub in Mildenhall warning owners of the consequences of buying stolen goods.
Sgt Ferrie also hopes to re-kindle interest in the Shopwatch radio scheme, which enables shopkeepers to alert officers to incidents as soon as they happen.
"We have had 12 businesses in the town register an interest in having these radios which, should an offence take place in their shop, will give them far quicker access to us," said Sgt Ferrie.
"The radios are quite expensive and what I am looking to do is get funding for these from various local bodies to get 10 of them.
"Hopefully after a year, shop owners will see the benefits of having them and see them as a worthwhile investment."
