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Some 106 of the UK’s leading retail voices have reportedly written to Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales, calling on them to commit to “making retail crime a priority” in local policing strategies.
The letters are said to express the retailers’ increasing concerns about the rising levels of violence, abuse, and anti-social behaviour across their operations, as well as 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”.
In addition, the letter also notes that retailers have set out the steps they are taking to protect retail workers, having spent £715m on crime prevention in 2020/21, according to the latest crime survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
Retailers have reported hiring in-store security teams, training teams on de-escalation, as well as investing in CCTV and body worn cameras for staff, but say local police support is still vital to protecting retail workers.
The letter also outlines ways in which the Police and Crime Commissioners could help the most such as work with local businesses to help give police an accurate picture of the problem, push their local force to investigate all reports of violence and abuse against retail workers, and monitor how the new sentencing guidelines are used and the impact on violence and abuse against retail workers.
This news comes as earlier this year, after a campaign by the BRC, the UK 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”.
Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the BRC, said: “I am 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, but every incident against a retail worker is one too many.
“A new law has increased the penalties for assaulting a retail worker, but this will only have an impact if police successfully investigate and prosecute these incidents. This is why we are calling on Police and Crime Commissioners to make retail crime a priority across the board.”
