Sadiq Khan has been told to "get a grip" on a shoplifting "epidemic" as London's supermarkets turn to ever-greater measures to combat a surge in petty crime.
GB News visited a number of retailers in the capital and witnessed a number of new security protections in place to guard against shoplifters - including "lock-boxes" on products and receipt scanners barring shoppers from exiting stores without a valid barcode.
One Tesco in Tottenham, northeast London, now requires customers to "buzz in" on a touch-screen scanner to purchase spirits or expensive drinks like Champagne.
Shoppers must wait to be let into drinks shelves, in which every bottle is also individually security tagged.
The scanners all feature cameras and microphones on the front - though when asked, staff assured GB News that customers were not being recorded.
Another Tesco in Holborn, in the heart of the capital, gives customers two receipts - one for their shopping, and another to scan in order to leave the store. Similar measures are in place in Sainsbury's locations around London.
And with London's two police forces recording 70,000 shoplifting offences in the last year alone, the Mayor has been urged to act.
City Hall's police and crime committee chairwoman Susan Hall told GB News: "It's the mark of a sadly high-risk, low-trust society that shops have to lock their goods - and occasionally their customers - down in order to minimise theft.
"The pernicious rise of lock-boxes and receipt scanners is the consequence of a city where crime has been allowed to soar as a result of those in charge, particularly Sadiq Khan, refusing to take real crime seriously and instead focusing on meaningless press opportunities.
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"Anyone who thinks that this isn't going to get worse as Khan prepares to sacrifice another 1,300 officers to budget cuts is kidding themselves - he needs to get a real grip on this, and pronto."
Meanwhile, former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley warned The People's Channel that London now faced "lawlessness on an industrial scale".
He said: "Regrettably, we have an epidemic of shoplifting, and it's lawlessness on an industrial scale - which affects us all, whether we witness it, whether we're shopkeepers who are affected by it, or whether we merely go shopping, because the cost of all this shoplifting has to be footed by someone.
"It's us that foots the bill because shopkeepers increase their prices... All this welcome tech, all these welcome measures which are sadly becoming increasingly necessary - the cost is simply passed on to us.
"It's the everyman, the everywoman in the street that is paying the price for this utter rampant lawlessness."
"Something needs to be done," he said. "The Government, the police, retailers themselves need to get a grip - because people are walking into shops with impunity.
He added: "We have to revert to having police services that investigate crime, patrol the streets, detect crime, and prevent crime instead of what we've currently got - which is a pseudo-social service dealing with all these ills!"
And Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, has warned that the "nature of theft is changing".
She said: "Thieves are becoming bolder, with more links to organised crime, stealing greater volumes of goods of higher value, and often targeting locations multiple times within days.
"Incidents are also becoming more aggressive, with colleagues facing physical assault, threats and abuse when confronting a shoplifter.
"Retailers have invested £1.2billion into crime prevention over the past year, but more needs to be done by police and the Government.
"Police must give retail crime greater focus, dedicating more resource to attending reported incidents, and the Government must make passing the standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker a priority.
"Everyone deserves to go to work without fearing for their safety," Dickinson said.
A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: "Nothing is more important to the Mayor than tackling crime and keeping Londoners safe.
"The previous Government massively cut policing budgets, which had serious consequences. But Sadiq has filled the financial gaps as much as possible, investing double the amount in policing from City Hall compared to the previous Mayor, including funding for 1,300 extra police officers and an additional 500 PCSOs.
"This is helping to revitalise neighbourhood policing and tackle local priorities, like shoplifting. He supports the Met's action in targeting theft hotspots and the most prolific offenders.
"But there is still more to do, and Sadiq is committed to supporting the Met Commissioner in ensuring officers can be there when needed most.
"This is on top of a commitment from the Government, the Mayor and the Commissioner to create stronger neighbourhood policing as we work together to continue building a safer London for everyone."
Find Out More...
GB News visited a number of retailers in the capital and witnessed a number of new security protections in place to guard against shoplifters - including "lock-boxes" on products and receipt scanners barring shoppers from exiting stores without a valid barcode.
One Tesco in Tottenham, northeast London, now requires customers to "buzz in" on a touch-screen scanner to purchase spirits or expensive drinks like Champagne.
Shoppers must wait to be let into drinks shelves, in which every bottle is also individually security tagged.
The scanners all feature cameras and microphones on the front - though when asked, staff assured GB News that customers were not being recorded.
Another Tesco in Holborn, in the heart of the capital, gives customers two receipts - one for their shopping, and another to scan in order to leave the store. Similar measures are in place in Sainsbury's locations around London.
And with London's two police forces recording 70,000 shoplifting offences in the last year alone, the Mayor has been urged to act.
City Hall's police and crime committee chairwoman Susan Hall told GB News: "It's the mark of a sadly high-risk, low-trust society that shops have to lock their goods - and occasionally their customers - down in order to minimise theft.
"The pernicious rise of lock-boxes and receipt scanners is the consequence of a city where crime has been allowed to soar as a result of those in charge, particularly Sadiq Khan, refusing to take real crime seriously and instead focusing on meaningless press opportunities.
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"Anyone who thinks that this isn't going to get worse as Khan prepares to sacrifice another 1,300 officers to budget cuts is kidding themselves - he needs to get a real grip on this, and pronto."
Meanwhile, former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley warned The People's Channel that London now faced "lawlessness on an industrial scale".
He said: "Regrettably, we have an epidemic of shoplifting, and it's lawlessness on an industrial scale - which affects us all, whether we witness it, whether we're shopkeepers who are affected by it, or whether we merely go shopping, because the cost of all this shoplifting has to be footed by someone.
"It's us that foots the bill because shopkeepers increase their prices... All this welcome tech, all these welcome measures which are sadly becoming increasingly necessary - the cost is simply passed on to us.
"It's the everyman, the everywoman in the street that is paying the price for this utter rampant lawlessness."
"Something needs to be done," he said. "The Government, the police, retailers themselves need to get a grip - because people are walking into shops with impunity.
He added: "We have to revert to having police services that investigate crime, patrol the streets, detect crime, and prevent crime instead of what we've currently got - which is a pseudo-social service dealing with all these ills!"
And Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, has warned that the "nature of theft is changing".
She said: "Thieves are becoming bolder, with more links to organised crime, stealing greater volumes of goods of higher value, and often targeting locations multiple times within days.
"Incidents are also becoming more aggressive, with colleagues facing physical assault, threats and abuse when confronting a shoplifter.
"Retailers have invested £1.2billion into crime prevention over the past year, but more needs to be done by police and the Government.
"Police must give retail crime greater focus, dedicating more resource to attending reported incidents, and the Government must make passing the standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker a priority.
"Everyone deserves to go to work without fearing for their safety," Dickinson said.
A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: "Nothing is more important to the Mayor than tackling crime and keeping Londoners safe.
"The previous Government massively cut policing budgets, which had serious consequences. But Sadiq has filled the financial gaps as much as possible, investing double the amount in policing from City Hall compared to the previous Mayor, including funding for 1,300 extra police officers and an additional 500 PCSOs.
"This is helping to revitalise neighbourhood policing and tackle local priorities, like shoplifting. He supports the Met's action in targeting theft hotspots and the most prolific offenders.
"But there is still more to do, and Sadiq is committed to supporting the Met Commissioner in ensuring officers can be there when needed most.
"This is on top of a commitment from the Government, the Mayor and the Commissioner to create stronger neighbourhood policing as we work together to continue building a safer London for everyone."
Find Out More...