• A Tauranga shoplifter was sentenced to two years in prison for 37 charges since 2024.
• An officer in the Tauranga Retail Crime Unit identified the serial offender.
• Police Commissioner Richard Chambers praised the unit’s work, highlighting its impact on reducing retail crime.

A prolific Tauranga shoplifter has been jailed after being convicted of 37 shoplifting charges, police say.

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said in a statement it was the result of outstanding investigative work by an officer in the Tauranga Retail Crime Unit.

The officer began his investigation based on a single shoplifting report that came through Auror - a retail crime intelligence and loss prevention platform - with no offender identified and no real lines of inquiry.

From that report, the officer was able to build a picture of a serial shoplifter, who was offending regularly.

A 45-year-old woman was arrested in February and charged with offending dating to September 2024.

She appeared in Tauranga District Court on May 21 and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.

“This was the result of meticulous and painstaking work by the officer in the Tauranga Retail Crime Unit,” said Chambers.

“The exceptional work of the officer has meant a serial shoplifter has been held to account for her actions.”

He said it highlighted the importance of monitoring and following up on what might initially seem like low-level offending.

“We know how devastating this type of offending is for our retail community, and holding people to account for shoplifting and retail theft remains a priority for NZ Police.”

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers. Photo / Dean Purcell

The Tauranga-based Retail Crime Unit is a fulltime team comprising a sergeant and five constables put together in 2023 after more than 5000 offences were reported to police the previous year.

It was the brainchild of Senior Sergeant Scott Merritt, who still oversees the unit.

“The Retail Crime Unit focus is on a group of recidivist offenders committing a disproportionate amount of these reported offences and causing the most harm to Western Bay of Plenty businesses,” he told the Bay of Plenty Times in 2023.

The team made more than 200 arrests and laid more than 1200 charges in their first six months, earning praise from retailers.

The retail crime unit earned praise from retailers in Tauranga's CBD. Photo / NZME

In recent weeks, police faced criticism after RNZ revealed a directive sent to staff in March setting national value thresholds for investigating theft and fraud files, such as $500 for shoplifting.

After backlash, including concern it could impact the work of initiatives like Tauranga’s retail crime unit, Chambers canned the “confusing and unhelpful” directive.

He highlighted Tauranga’s unit as an example of successful approaches to retail crime.

“The convictions in this case were a result of not only outstanding investigative work, but also of the great rapport that the officer has built with local retailers,” said Chambers.

He said districts had leeway to decide how their resources were best used, and what their priorities needed to be.

“However, the case does highlight just how effective the dedicated retail crime unit in Tauranga can be.

“It provides a good model for other districts to consider when deciding how to tackle retail crime.”

RNZ reported last week police were reviewing cases that may have been impacted by the directive.

Retail NZ estimates that retail crime costs New Zealand retailers $2.6 billion each year, and about 40% of incidents are not reported to police.