[Photo: FILE]

Businesses are becoming increasingly reluctant to report shoplifting incidents, citing the amount of time required to lodge complaints with police.

Suva Retailers Association President Jitesh Patel says reporting a single theft can take up to five hours, making the process impractical for many businesses already under pressure.

Patel says retailers are instead choosing to deal with offenders immediately rather than spending valuable time at police stations completing reports.

The growing reluctance to report theft comes as businesses face a rise in shoplifting and grab-and-run incidents, adding to the challenges posed by the current economic climate.

“It takes about four or five hours just to report a matter to the police and then go to the station, write all the reports and all those things, so the process is too long. Most businesses don’t have that much time to go and do all these things. If they get someone, they try to solve it at the same time.”

Patel adds that retailers are also calling for tougher penalties for repeat offenders, arguing that current sentences are failing to deter criminal activity.

“There are two kinds of robberies. One is what we call shoplifting, and that has increased so much, percentage-wise, so much. People are desperate for things and they’re not, they think nobody’s looking at them, and so shoplifting has gone very high. The court is too lenient on this.”

Meanwhile, ACP Operations Kasiano Vusonilawe says police divisions across the country have already begun operations ahead of the festive season and are preparing strategies to address anticipated crime trends.

“At the moment we are entering the festive season, and all our policing divisions are on operations at this moment and we will strategize our operations concept coming early next month to address the challenges that we have analyzed in the previous operations that we have done.”

Police statistics show theft remains one of Fiji’s most common offences, with 352 cases recorded in August alone, reinforcing retailers’ calls for a more efficient reporting process and stronger measures against repeat offenders.