Industry leaders call on police service to prioritise retail crime

In the communication, retailers have expressed their “increasing concerns” about the rising levels of violence, abuse and anti-social behaviour being perpetrated across their operations and the emotional impact it can have on victims and their colleagues.

The rise in retail crime, the letter notes, “is partly linked to tackling shoplifting [which] pushes up the cost of operating and results in higher prices for everyone.”

The letter notes that retailers have set out the steps they’re taking to protect retail workers, having spent – according to the latest Crime Survey published by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) – some £715 million on crime prevention in 2020-2021 alone. That money has been spent on everything from hiring in-store security teams through to training teams on de-escalation and investing in CCTV and body-worn cameras for staff.

Retailers maintain the belief that local police support is vital when it comes to protecting retail workers. During the pandemic, those workers were subjected to a huge rise in violence and abuse, with incidents almost tripling from 455 per day in 2019-2020 to 1,300 in 2020-2021.

Ultimately, retailers do not want to jeopardise any progress being made as a result of their investment in crime prevention, and nor do they want to see retail colleagues and their families suffering the consequences of such incidents.

Serious matter

The letter calls on Police and Crime Commissioners to: 

*commit to making retail crime a priority in their local policing plans

*work with local businesses to investigate ways in which to make reporting simpler in order to help afford the police an accurate picture of the problem 

*push their local police force to investigate all reports of violence and abuse perpetrated against retail workers, ensuring that the matter is treated with the seriousness it deserves

*monitor how the new sentencing guidelines are used and their impact on violence and abuse against retail workers

Earlier this year, after an extensive campaign orchestrated by the BRC and others, the Government introduced an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act which created tougher sentencing for assaults committed against those “providing a public service or performing a public duty”.

‘Hidden heroes’

Helen Dickinson OBE, CEO of the British Retail Consortium, explained: “I’m proud of the incredible work done by our retail colleagues. They were among the ‘hidden heroes’ of the pandemic, working tirelessly to keep the nation fed, clothed and with access to the goods we wanted.”

Dickinson continued: “Every incident against a retail worker is one too many. Retailers are going above and beyond to keep their colleagues and customers safe, hiring in-store security teams, training staff on de-escalation techniques and investing in CCTV and body-worn cameras. A new law has increased the penalties involved for assaulting a retail worker, but this will only have an impact if the police service successfully investigates and prosecutes these incidents. This is precisely why we are calling on Police and Crime Commissioners to make retail crime a priority across the board.”