Five shoplifters linked to 331 crimes as Kirkcaldy sees rise in retail theft

Almost 2000 shoplifting offences were recorded across the Kirkcaldy area in 2025/26, with the total rising from 1303 to 1924.

A report to the Kirkcaldy Area Committee revealed that five repeat offenders – four men and one woman – were responsible for 331 crimes.

September was the busiest month with 213 shopliftings offences reported.

A total of 1334 shoplifting offences were detected, equivalent to 69.3 per cent of the total recorded.

Chief Inspector Chris Mill told councillors the increase was not unique to Kirkcaldy and described it as part of a national trend.

He said police had secured funding through a national retail task force and used it to hold days of action involving additional officers.

Analysts are also being used to identify the most prolific offenders and establish where and when offences are happening, allowing police to target their resources.

“We have to break the cycle of these people appearing in court, getting released and offending again,” said Chief Inspector Mill.

“It is using all tactics at our disposal to try and break that cycle.”

Officers are also working directly with retailers to help tackle the issue.

“It is not just a small number of people being responsible for a massive number of crimes, it is a small number of premises that are disproportionately hit very, very hard by these particular individuals so we work very closely with senior management of these organisations,” he told councillors.

“There are a couple of retailers we have established strong links with. Our community safety officers visit these premises.

“A particular retailer had put alcohol next to the exit. We try and discourage them from doing that.

“Another retailer put valuable products at the door. We try and discourage that. We recognise we have to expand our work in other avenues to have meaningful success.”