Retail crime group chair Sunny Kaushal. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The head of the government's retail crime advisory group is relieved police commissioner Richard Chambers has scrapped a controversial directive on shoplifting.
A internal police memo obtained by RNZ told staff not to investigate crimes under a certain dollar value, prompting outrage from the retail sector before the directive was publicly scrapped on Tuesday.
It included shoplifting under $500, petrol drive-offs under $150 and online fraud under $1000.
Retail crime group chair Sunny Kaushal said the clarity was very reassuring for victims around the country.
"The clear comments from the police commissioner show police's commitment to responding to retail crime," he said.
"And the clarity he provided on the thresholds for investigating shoplifting offences will greatly reassure victims of retail crime across the country."
He said the confusion caused by the memo should not overshadow the great work of many police officers, particularly in Tauranga and Gisborne where Kaushal felt the response to retail crime was particularly strong.
"There are pockets of outstanding practice across the country ... So the work that those police forces are doing should not be discounted by the confusion created by this directive," he said.
But Kaushal was surprised to learn Chambers had not been made aware of the memo until its contents were published by RNZ.
"That was a bit surprising, and I also understand the police commissioner is still new and he's still trying to settle [in]," he said.
"This directive came like a bolt out of the blue, and the retailers I had been talking to were seriously concerned. I was getting so many calls."
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