- Incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers saw a fifth reduction last year, from 2,000 to 1,600 per day, though physical violence and weapon incidents remained high.
- Theft continues to be a significant issue, with 5.5 million detected incidents costing retailers nearly £400 million last year, often linked to organised criminal gangs.
- Retailers have invested over £5 billion in security measures in the past five years, which is starting to show positive results, and satisfaction with police response has slightly increased.
- The British Retail Consortium (BRC) described current levels of violence and theft as “unacceptably high” despite some progress, and highlighted parcel theft costing over £100 million.
- The upcoming Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker and remove the £200 threshold for “low level” theft.
IN FULL
Warning issued as violence and abuse against retail workers at ‘unacceptably high’ levels
