An off-duty cop has won the praise of residents after incredible footage captured the moment he foiled an alleged shoplifter's attempt to steal meat from a supermarket.
The off-duty detective sergeant stopped the man at a Woolworths on Lincoln Road at Henderson in Auckland's west, New Zealand, at 8.05am on July 9.
The cop, who did not want to be named, was on his way to work at Henderson Police Station when he decided to grab a bag of chips for another officer.
As he walked into the store, he spotted a man wearing a hoodie walking out of the wrong exit with a basket filled with hundreds of dollars worth of produce.
The alleged thief was confronted by the cop and CCTV footage captured the moment the officer swiftly took the basket out of the man's hand.
The alleged robber was left stunned as the officer, who was wearing a dark coat and beige coloured pants, calmly walked past him.
New Zealand Police said they are conducting inquiries into the incident.
'Police have now identified the offender and we will be speaking to him about the theft shortly,' they said.
The alleged thief was confronted by the cop and CCTV footage captured the moment the officer swiftly took the basket off the man (pictured)
'Police are continuing to hold shoplifters to account on multiple fronts'.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted New Zealand Police for further comment.
The footage of the cop's slick move was shared to Facebook and attracted hundreds of comments from viewers who praised the cop.
'Love how calm, swift and just simply matter of fact. Well done Detective!' one wrote.
'Oh love this. Cool policeman,' another added.
'So good! Didn’t miss a beat,' a third wrote.
The police officer spotted the man, who was wearing a hoodie and a pair of shorts, as he was walking out of the wrong exit of the store (pictured)
Others said security should be increased across retails stores by providing security guards with more resources.
'Maybe there would be less supermarket theft if you actually gave security guards the power to actually do their job,' one person wrote.
Retailers in New Zealand have lost around $1.3billion to retail crime according to a crime survey conducted by Retail New Zealand in 2023.
The survey found 92 per cent of retailers across the country have been victims of retail crime, which costs businesses $2.56 billion every year.
