Shoplifting in central Lichfield more than doubled on a year ago in September, to 30 reports, while total crime fell 6%. Over 12 months crime is up 12%.
Police recorded 30 shoplifting offences within a mile of central Lichfield in September 2026, more than double the 14 recorded in September 2025. Total crime and anti-social behaviour reports in the same area fell, from 250 to 234.
The longer view is less comfortable. Over the 12 months to September, reports were up 12% on the year before.
The figures come from police.uk, the Home Office’s open crime data. September 2026 is the latest month published. We counted every report Staffordshire Police placed within one mile of the city centre, using the police.uk street-level data.
September 2026 against September 2025
| Category | Sep 2025 | Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 96 | 76 |
| Public order | 25 | 35 |
| Anti-social behaviour | 50 | 33 |
| Shoplifting | 14 | 30 |
| Criminal damage and arson | 16 | 15 |
| Vehicle crime | 21 | 13 |
| Burglary | 8 | 3 |
| All reports | 250 | 234 |
Three things stand out:
- shoplifting more than doubled, from 14 to 30
- anti-social behaviour fell by a third, from 50 to 33
- burglary fell to 3, from 16 in August
One month is not a trend. Monthly counts this small move about a lot, as August’s 16 burglaries show.
Shoplifting has been higher all year
The September rise is not a one-off. Shoplifting has run at 19 or more reports every month since January. In the 12 months to September 2026 there were 304 reports, against 252 in the 12 months before. That is a rise of 21%.
The 12 months to September 2026
These are the 12 months from October 2025 to September 2026, against the 12 months from October 2024 to September 2025.
| Category | Oct 2024 to Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 to Sep 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 906 | 1,036 | up 14% |
| Anti-social behaviour | 380 | 472 | up 24% |
| Shoplifting | 252 | 304 | up 21% |
| Public order | 223 | 264 | up 18% |
| Vehicle crime | 180 | 179 | level |
| Criminal damage and arson | 161 | 152 | down 6% |
| Burglary | 85 | 73 | down 14% |
| Bicycle theft | 34 | 13 | down 62% |
| All reports | 2,521 | 2,834 | up 12% |
Where the reports were mapped
Police.uk does not give exact addresses. Each report is moved to the nearest of a set of fixed map points, so a busy street can collect reports from the roads around it. In September the points with the most reports were:
- Conduit Street, 17
- a point police.uk labels “Shopping Area”, 16
- Market Street, 12
Burntwood is moving the other way
We ran the same count within a mile of central Burntwood. There, September 2026 had 130 reports, against 155 in September 2025.
Over 12 months Burntwood fell slightly, from 1,714 reports to 1,670. Shoplifting there fell from 202 to 153, a drop of 24%.
What happened to the September reports
The police.uk outcome field shows where each Lichfield crime report stood when the data was published:
- 101 were still under investigation
- 42 were closed because police were unable to prosecute a suspect
- 37 were closed with no suspect identified
- 12 were dealt with by local resolution
- 9 were awaiting a court outcome
Anti-social behaviour reports do not carry an outcome, which accounts for most of the rest.
What it means for you
- You can see the reports mapped near your own street on police.uk, by entering a postcode.
- Report a crime that is not an emergency to Staffordshire Police on 101 or online through the Staffordshire Police website. Call 999 if a crime is happening now or someone is in danger.
- Shoplifting that has already happened can be reported the same way, as a non-emergency.
How we counted
The figures are police.uk street-level data for all crime types, requested month by month for a one-mile radius around central Lichfield (52.6846, -1.8281) and central Burntwood (52.6800, -1.9230). They include anti-social behaviour, which is not a crime but is recorded alongside it. They show reports recorded by the police, not convictions. Police.uk publishes each month’s figures around two months later, so October 2026 is due in December.
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