A Harwich shop screened its own shoplifting CCTV in-store and says thefts almost stopped

In a January 2016 BBC report, Laurence Munday, owner of the Wellworth-a-£ discount shop in Harwich, Essex, says screening CCTV of thefts in his store has almost completely cut out shoplifting. His 32 cameras were capturing an average of six shoplifters a month on film until the screenings began in October, and none had been filmed so far in January.

Munday says the idea came after a charity box was stolen. He put the CCTV footage on his Facebook page and was 'stunned' when 30,000 people watched it. He realised social media was powerful, but that it could work better if the videos were shown in the shop itself.

He says it is a deterrent because it is a small town and thieves seem to realise they will be shamed in front of their peers and neighbours.

The shop already had 32 cameras and footage of thefts.

A Facebook post showed that people watched crime footage.

In a small town a thief is likely to be known to the shoppers watching.

A deterrent needs an audience; surveillance that is visible to the community changes behaviour in ways silent recording does not.

Munday says no thieves had been filmed in January 2016. The BBC notes he said there had almost certainly been other thefts not spotted on footage, so the figure counts only what cameras caught.