For me, this is a case of wanting to believe something - but not actually believing it.

I suppose if I was the Prime Minister or if I was the Assistant Police Commissioner I’d say the same things they said on Newstalk ZB this morning. Because, if I didn’t, then I’d pretty much be saying ‘guilty-as-charged’ to the National Party’s view that the Government has failed to reduce retail crime.

But, as far as I’m concerned, I think the PM and the Assistant Commissioner are going to be pushing it uphill convincing us that anyone and everyone who walks into a shop and helps themselves to whatever they want does and will face consequences.

Let’s start with the stats. On average last year, there were 8,500 retail crime incidents every month. About 280 every day. In October, it was as high as 10,000, or about 330 per day.

Go back four years - and the monthly average was about half what it was last year.

Pretty hard stats to argue with. Although Megan Woods did try when she was on the radio this morning.

She wasn’t convincing, saying that we need to try and suss out why people are stealing from shops in the first place, suggesting that this is a social issue.

Which won’t go down well with the likes of Retail NZ which has been saying recently that the spike in retail crime has nothing to do with social deprivation - and it’s all about catering to the re-sale market. With thieves stealing on demand and selling goods on.

Then there’s the lower-level offending that retailers have no hope in hell of the Police doing anything about it.

This is what Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford has been saying: "This is driven essentially by the fact that people think if they steal stuff they won't get caught and that they can then sell those products on to generate a profit for themselves.

"The increases that we're seeing, the bulk of it is very organised. These are gangs of people out there who are stealing to order; it is not people who are stealing to feed themselves."

So Megan Woods might want to dial things down on the old ‘let’s find out why these people are doing this’ approach. Because my pick is the retailers who are getting hit hundreds of times a day by these daylight robbers won’t fall for that.

Just like I’m not falling for all these reassurances we’ve been hearing from the Prime Minister and Assistant Police Commissioner that people aren’t and won’t get away with nicking stuff from shops.

I want to believe them because I can only imagine what it must be like trying to run a retail business and staying afloat - and having self-entitled crims walking in and helping themselves.

But, on the basis of what I hear from retailers, I don’t believe them. Not for a minute.

I’ve seen this sort of thing with my own eyes. You probably have too. And how brazen these people can be.

Not that long ago, I was in the bus interchange in Christchurch and saw this guy blatantly walking in and out of the little convenience shop there and taking stuff off shelves.

He wasn’t the sort of person I’d try to take on. You know what it’s like - you don’t even want eye contact with these people. Because you know they’re trouble.

But I remember going in to the shop when I'd seen what was happening and the woman behind the counter telling me that it happened all the time but there’s nothing they can do because they don’t want to risk getting attacked and the police aren’t around and have a truckload of other stuff to deal with.

So this is not me saying I don’t believe the Prime Minister and the Police just for the sake of it. I’m saying I don’t believe them because I haven’t seen evidence of people facing consequences for retail crime. I haven’t seen it - and I haven’t had any retailers tell me they've seen evidence of these turkeys facing consequences.

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