Between Wednesday 6 April and Thursday 7 December, South Australia Police carried out Operation Measure, an operation targeting shoplifters in the Adelaide CBD in conjunction with loss prevention officers from a number of retailers and Rundle Mall Security officers.
The two-day operation resulted in 84 people being apprehended including 39 arrests and 45 people reported for theft matters. Of the people apprehended 20 were wanted for previous theft matters.
In addition, 12 people were issued a drug diversion and seven people were issued fines for being in possession of cannabis.
The numerous goods recovered during the operation totalled more than $18,000. Items targeted included luxury clothing, fragrances, toys, electronics and groceries.
Operation Measure member, Senior Constable Emily Woods said "This operation supports our retailers who we work closely with to identify suspect people, particularly those who steal in an organised manner, to disrupt their offending."
The operation has been operating since March 2022 and over that time has resulted in more than 1000 apprehensions for organised, repeat and serious theft offenders.
As a partnership model, Operation Measure sees SAPOL members working closely with retailers, Crime Stoppers, loss prevention and security managers to apprehend people responsible for repeat retail thefts and violence against retail workers.
Coordinator of Operation Measure, Inspector Julian Coram says "The success of Operation Measure is underpinned by the partnership between agencies.
Operation Measure is a collaboration between Police and retailers, the relationships we have built enable us to identify people responsible for thefts quickly and identify offending patterns. Working together means that we are able to achieve positive outcomes and hold offenders to account."
Significant arrests included:
A 29-year-old man from Adelaide, he was charged with two counts of theft. Checks showed that he was wanted for a robbery that occurred in Rundle Mall earlier this week. He appeared in court and was remanded in custody to appear at a later date.
A 16-year-old girl from Morphettville was charged with two counts of aggravated theft from a liquor store and pop up retain store. She was granted police bail to appear in Adelaide Youth Court at a later date.
A 29-year-old man from Adelaide was arrested and charged on Wednesday 6 December with theft and breach of bail. On Thursday the same man was arrested for further offending when police located him in a store in possession of bolt cutters attempting to remove security tags. He was remanded in custody to appear in court at a later date.
A 28-year-old woman from Thebarton was charged with theft after being caught in possession of a large amount of make-up. She was also arrested for on a warrant, breaching her bail conditions and an outstanding assault incident. She was remanded in custody to appear in court in February.
A 32-year-old woman from Camden Park was charged with numerous theft offences after she was searched and police located stolen items belonging to eight different stores in Rundle Mall. All goods were returned to the stores and the woman will face court at a later date.
