The chiefs and chairman of more than 40 high street retailers have called for a ‘new approach’ to violence against shop staff, as the Home Office closed its 12-week call for evidence on violence and abuse on the high street.
Their letter to the Home Secretary Sajid Javid and other ministers described violence against retail colleagues as “a hugely problematic and serious area of crime, with weapons, particularly knives, increasingly significant. This violence is commonly triggered by shop workers delivering what the state asks of them: enforcing age restriction policies or refusing to serve intoxicated customers, or dealing with shop thieves, who might be carrying weapons. The only conclusion is that there is a serious imbalance in the relationship between risk and reward for these criminals.”
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, pictured, said: “Retail is the largest private sector employer in the UK, with roughly 3 million employees spread across each and every community, and violence against employees is the most difficult issue it faces. These are not victimless crimes: they impact upon the skilled, passionate, committed individuals who make the industry so vibrant, as well as their families and loved ones. That is why so many of our members and aligned groups have come together to ask the Government to do more to tackle this problem, and do it now.”
Among the ideas in the letter was a specific new offence of assaulting a retail worker (including charity shop volunteers), giving them the same status as emergency workers. “This visible and clear offer of support and protection will finally provide for effective sentencing responses and will help drive improved reporting,” the letter said. It asked for ‘urgent work on the use of community disposals, looking in more depth and where and how they are used and culminating on appropriate guidance to support and appropriate response. This change will be rendered more necessary if plans to abolish short prison sentences further increase criminals perceived incentives to offend,’ because of the fear that ‘community disposals’ – fines for shoplifting – are inappropriate if given to repeat offenders and are not deterring thieves, if police are ever on the scene in the first place.
The letter urged that ‘delay is not an option. There is no scope to kick the can down the road by waiting for a further consultation’.
The letter was also signed by the trade union Usdaw, and retail sector bodies such as the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), and the Charity Retail Association. For the letter in full visit the BRC website.
