Usdaw has repeated its appeal to protect shopworkers following a rise in retail crime.
The workers’ union has called for improved coordination among the government, retail employers, police and the courts to ensure better safety measures for shopworkers.
Paddy Lillis Usdaw general secretary said: “Faced with such appallingly high levels of violence and abuse, along with a growing epidemic of retail crime, much more needs to be done. There must be legislation across the UK to make it a specific offence to abuse or assault a shopworker.’’
New research by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has revealed that shoplifting has increased by 27% across ten of the largest cities in the UK. The data also showed a surge of up to 68% in some cities.
In addition, its recent crime survey revealed that incidents of violence and abuse against retail employees increased from more than 450 per day in 2019-2020 to more than 850 per day last year.
Lillis said: “This latest research will send a chill down the spine of our members, the majority of whom work in supermarkets. However, they will not be surprised because they are on the frontline of retail and have been reporting significant recent increases in theft from shops, mainly by gangs and organised criminals, often linked to drugs. Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. Theft from shops has long been a major flashpoint for violence and abuse against shopworkers. Having to deal with repeated and persistent shoplifters can cause issues beyond the theft itself like anxiety, fear and in some cases physical harm to retail workers.
“Our annual survey found that three-quarters of retail workers suffered abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence. Theft from shops was the trigger for nearly a third of these incidents last year. Particularly concerning is that just over half of those who did the survey said they were not confident that reporting these issues will make any difference.’’
Falling victim to almost 1000 incidents every day, the Co-operative Food said they have seen crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour jump 35% year-on-year, with more than 175,000 incidents recorded in the first six month of this year.
According to the Association of Convenience Stores, nearly two-thirds of crime is driven by repeat and prolific offenders, with drug or alcohol addictions and local organised criminal gangs among the main drivers of offending.
Experiencing the impact of shop crimes everday, the Co-op recently spearheaded a new initiative in an effort to catch thieves.
Paul Gerrard campaigns, public affairs director at the Co-op group told the MailOnline about the recent investment in undercover security guards who have performed citizen arrests on shoplifters.
Despite the attempt to prosecute shoplifters, Gerrard admitted that most cases were dismissed because police officers failed to turn up.
Gerrard said: ‘’These are highly trained expert guards - often ex-police and ex-forces - who work undercover in stores where there’s a particular problem. They will intervene and make a citizen’s arrest and detain the individual. But even in those cases when we’ve detained an offender and called for police assistance the police don’t attend in 80 per cent of cases.’’
‘’In some ways it’s even worse than not intervening in the first place because they know that even if they’re caught they can still get out.’’
If you’re concerned about the rise in retail crimes and the well-being of shopworkers, you can find a training aid for keeping your staff safe here.
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