An increase in shoplifting incidents has prompted frustrated small business owners in Dubbo to call for courts to crackdown harder on thieves who repeatedly steal.
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Businesses and police in the Dubbo Regional Council area dealt with 339 shoplifting incidents in the 12 months to March 2019, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show.
The latest numbers are up on the 304 shoplifting incidents reported in the previous 12 months.
The numbers indicate more shoplifting incidents happened in Dubbo than in Bathurst, Orange, Tamworth, Wagga and even more populated places in Sydney like Burwood and Randwick.
Small business owners the Daily Liberal spoke to said the figures came as no surprise.
"Yes it has got worse, there's been an increase in the younger generation stealing, 14 and 15-year-olds thinking they can knock stuff off and then do a runner," Dubbo Meat Centre owner Mark Knaggs said.
"They [thieves] know they're only going to get a slap on the wrist when they go to court."
"Police are doing the best they can to deal with it but they're just not getting the support."
On his businesses public Facebook page, Mr Knaggs said he uploaded a screenshot of CCTV footage that captured thieves from Wellington in his store.
"You get a result," he said when asked why he posted the photo which was shared more than 500 times.
"I thought it was my businesses right to warn other businesses."
Hardware stores, fashion retailers, supermarkets and service stations are among the other Dubbo businesses regularly targeted by thieves.
You never get the money back, you just lose.
- Anthony Barnes
In pursuit of stolen items, the manager of a retail outlet in Talbragar Street chased a thief out of his store and onto Macquarie Street on Wednesday.
The items were recovered and similar incidents, where workers or businesses owners have pursed thieves on foot, have been reported in Dubbo's central business district in recent months.
Sportspower owner Anthony Barnes said courts should impose "tougher sentences to act as a deterrent".
"I'm 100 per cent behind the police but the police resources are stretched and I'd love to see more police on the street," he said.
Mr Barnes said shoplifting is often considered a petty crime, but it hurts business owners, their families and employees.
"It actually shouldn't be treated as a petty crime because it does add up, it's a massive problem," he said.
"You never get the money back, you just lose."
The Australian Retailers Association has suggested the overall cost of shoplifting to businesses across the country is estimated to be in the billions.
