Retail crime: Record levels of theft and violence in our shops

Retailers have suffered unprecedented annual levels of shoplifting losses and incidents of violence and abuse against staff, according to industry data, although one major chain has told Sky News there are now signs of a fightback.

The British Retail Association (BRC) used the publication of its annual retail crime survey, covering the 12 months to April 2024, to demand an urgent police and government response to mounting industry losses and incidents of assault.

The survey showed £2.2bn of recorded store losses from theft - up from £1.8bn over the previous 12 months.

That was despite a £1.8bn industry investment on bolstering security over the period in a bid to get ahead of the thieves, from those operating independently to organised criminal networks.

Assaults and abuse were up 340% on 2020/21, according to the survey, at more than 2,000 incidents per day - a hike of more than 50% on the previous 12 months - with many involving racial abuse and, 70 times per day on average, the use of a weapon.

Just 10% of incidents of violence or abuse resulted in police attendance, the report said.

But the Co-op Group's lead on retail crime said that a partnership known as Pegasus, which began in October 2023, was starting to bear fruit for retailers.

Paul Gerrard said police engagement had improved since the intelligence-sharing initiative began, with police attendance rising up to 66% last year as a whole in his chain's experience.

"Before October 2023, police were turning up about two times in every 10," he said of its reporting of crime.

"In most cases we had to let the offender go... now police are turning up more, which is helping reduce offending."

Co-op's own initiatives to cut crime include a continuing trial of AI technology that can detect both concealed goods and physical assaults.

It also deploys undercover teams and spent £5m last year on the rollout of new secure kiosks around its tills and shelves containing high value goods such as spirits and cigarettes to help better protect products and staff.

"Our (financial) losses from crime were broadly flat at around 1,000 incidents a day in 2024 in our stores", Mr Gerrard said, while violence was down by 13% with 3 to 4 colleagues attacked per day.

But he admitted that the level of crime, and the police response, varied by area.

"The Met police area has 9% of our stores but accounts for 27% of our crime", he said, adding that the police response rate in the capital stood at 59% compared to the Co-op's national average of 66%.

There are fears that the shoplifting crisis will only intensify due to rising household costs, with council tax, water and energy bills all on course for inflation-busting increases in the spring.

Mr Gerrard said of the threat ahead: "70% of retail crime is by the same prolific offenders for resale.

"The people stealing from our shops are not stealing to make ends meet (but) there will be a greater market for those goods which is why, I think, the police focus must be maintained along with the role of Pegasus."

The retail sector's £4bn bill for shoplifting losses and bolstering security in 2023/4 is among many cost challenges.

The BRC has consistently warned that margins are set to be squeezed further, to the tune of £7bn, by the impact of budget tax measures that apply from April.

Stronger measures to tackle shoplifting include proposals to remove the £200 threshold of 'low level' theft and the introduction of a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker.

The report was released just two months after an exclusive survey by Sky News and Association of Convenience Stores suggested that 80% of shopkeepers had suffered from retail crime within a week.

Helen Dickinson OBE, the BRC's chief executive, said: "Retail crime continues to spiral out of control. Retail staff have been spat on, racially abused, and threatened with machetes.

"Every day that this continues, criminals are getting bolder and more aggressive. We owe it to the three million hardworking people working in retail to bring the epidemic of crime to heel."

She added: "We look forward to seeing crucial legislation to protect retail workers being put in place later this year. Only if the industry, government and police work together, can we finally see this awful trend reverse."

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson responded: "The rising levels of shop theft and violence against retail staff are utterly unacceptable.

"We will not stand for this. That is why this government has made clear we will introduce a new specific offence of assaulting a retail worker and end the effective immunity that currently applies for theft of goods under £200.

"And it is why as part of our Safer Streets Mission we are restoring neighbourhood policing, putting thousands of dedicated officers and community support officers back on our streets, and ensuring every community has a named local officer they can turn to."

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