North Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Tim Forber led a drive to tackle shoplifters in York today (Friday).
On one of the busiest trading days of the year, the last Friday before Christmas, he was part of a team of officers in the city centre and the outer suburbs for a focused blitz on retail theft.
Tactics included officers in plain clothes, detection from specialist automatic numberplate recognition technology and a surveillance ring around the outskirts of York.
Two hours into the operation police received a report of a shop theft from Aldi on Fulford Road.
The store gave details of a vehicle which was potentially involved, and a short time later officers located it at a linked address.
Inside the vehicle were food items with labels on. A woman in her 50s was arrested on suspicion of shop theft and currently remains in police custody.
Chief Constable Tim Forber said: “Shoplifting costs businesses and the economy millions of pounds every year.
“It is not a victimless crime – businesses struggle when hit by shoplifters and we shoppers feel the impact when businesses are forces to raise prices to compensate for their losses.
“Today’s operation shows how much of a priority it is for the force, the message is clear, we will not tolerate theft in York and North Yorkshire.
“As we move closer towards Christmas, I would like to remind people that policing doesn’t stop for the holidays.
“We remain operational across the festive period. If you need us we will be there. I wish everyone in York and North Yorkshire a happy and safe Christmas.”
