A new digital system is helping Dorset Police investigate shoplifting more quickly.
Retailers can now submit CCTV footage, witness statements and images directly through the NiCE Investigate platform, allowing officers to receive evidence within hours instead of days.
Police say the system has improved results, with the Force’s Retail Crime Team achieving a positive outcome rate of more than 70% for shoplifting offences during the final 3 months of 2025.
Officers say Dorset Police investigates all reports of shoplifting regardless of value, challenging the misconception that thefts under £200 are not pursued.
Retailers can upload digital evidence packs which help officers identify repeat offenders and link incidents across multiple stores, strengthening cases that are later presented in court.
Among recent prosecutions was Jason Christopher Evans, who was jailed for 32 weeks in December 2025 after repeatedly targeting Boots stores in Christchurch and Poole and stealing more than £7000 of goods across 14 offences.
Sergeant Ryan Corbett said the intelligence led approach has proven effective at disrupting offenders and added that “every report we receive helps us build the bigger picture”.
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