Police recorded 179 shoplifting offences near central Reading in July, the most in two years. Over 12 months the total rose 57% to 1,526, as pickpocketing fell.
Police recorded 179 shoplifting offences within a mile of central Reading in July. That is the highest monthly figure in at least two years, and more than double the 85 recorded in July 2024.
It is not a one-month spike. Over the 12 months to July 2026, officers recorded 1,526 shoplifting offences in the same area. In the 12 months before, the figure was 975. That is a rise of 551 offences, or 57%.
The figures come from the Home Office street-level crime data published on police.uk, which we pulled for each of the last 24 months through its open data API. July 2026 is the latest month available.
When the rise started
Through 2025 the monthly figure stayed between 70 and 107. It began climbing at the turn of the year:
| Month | Shoplifting offences recorded |
|---|---|
| December 2025 | 103 |
| January 2026 | 114 |
| February 2026 | 154 |
| March 2026 | 133 |
| April 2026 | 163 |
| May 2026 | 176 |
| June 2026 | 144 |
| July 2026 | 179 |
Every month from February to July 2026 was higher than any month in the year to July 2025, when the peak was 107 in March 2025.
Where it is recorded
police.uk does not publish exact addresses. Each offence is pinned to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so a location is approximate.
Of July’s 179 offences:
- 70 were mapped to a point police.uk labels “Shopping Area”
- 69 were mapped to Cross Street, the short street linking Broad Street and Friar Street
- 9 were mapped to a “Conference/exhibition Centre” point
- 6 were mapped to St Mary’s Butts
Between them, the first two points account for 139 of the 179, or nearly four in five.
What happened to the cases
police.uk also records the latest outcome for each offence. For July’s 179 shoplifting offences:
- 116 were still under investigation
- 45 were closed with no suspect identified
- 8 were awaiting a court outcome
- 8 were recorded as unable to prosecute a suspect
- 2 had other outcomes
July is recent, so many of these outcomes will change as investigations finish.
What the police say
Shoplifting is a formal priority for the Abbey and Battle neighbourhood policing team. The team’s priority, issued on 1 July, reads: “Retail shops in Reading Town Centre are targeted frequently by drug addicts who shoplift to support their habit.”
Its latest update, dated 11 September, says shoplifting “remains a persistent issue within the town centre”. It says the Retail Crime Team has secured “a number of successful prosecutions alongside Community Behaviour Orders”. The update also describes work with the drug and alcohol charity CGL on diverting repeat offenders, including a trial of Buvidal, a treatment for opioid dependency (Thames Valley Police, Abbey and Battle priorities).
The figures cannot tell you whether more thefts are happening or more of them are being reported and recorded. A bigger push by retailers and police to report and pursue shop theft would also push the recorded number up.
The rest of the town centre’s crime
Shoplifting is the biggest mover, but overall recorded crime near central Reading also rose. In the 12 months to July 2026 police.uk logged 9,653 crimes and anti-social behaviour reports within the mile, up 8.8% on 8,871 the year before.
In July alone the total was 936, against 849 in July 2025. The most common category was violence and sexual offences, with 302 reports. Shoplifting was second, at nearly one in five of the total.
Some categories fell over the year:
| Category | 12 months to July 2025 | 12 months to July 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theft from the person | 311 | 181 | down 42% |
| Burglary | 332 | 277 | down 17% |
| Bicycle theft | 285 | 265 | down 7% |
| Criminal damage and arson | 539 | 503 | down 7% |
| Robbery | 165 | 156 | down 5% |
Theft from the person covers pickpocketing and snatch thefts, so a fall of that size in a busy shopping centre is notable.
What it means for you
If you work in a shop, report every theft, even small ones. A theft that is never reported never appears in these figures, and cannot be linked to anyone. You can report online through Thames Valley Police, or call 101. Call 999 if someone is being threatened or a crime is happening now.
If you want to raise it with the police in person, the Abbey and Battle team lists its next public events on the same page. They include a Safer Neighbourhood Forum at 7pm on Thursday 15 October at RISC, 35 to 39 London Street.
Check your own street. police.uk’s crime map lets you see the recorded figures for any part of Reading, month by month.
About these figures
- The area is a one-mile radius around central Reading, the standard police.uk search around a point. It covers the town centre and some streets beyond it.
- These are crimes recorded by the police, not convictions.
- The data is provisional. Thames Valley Police can reclassify or add offences after publication, so monthly figures may move slightly.
- Our 12-month comparisons add up the monthly totals as published on 17 September 2026.
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