Co-op food managing director, Matt Hood, has called on the police to “play their part” in tackling retail crime as rates surge 35% year on year.

The convenience retailer has said crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour has become “out of control,” with more than 175,000 incidents recorded in the first six months of 2023, which equates to almost 1,000 incidents a day.

Over the past year, frontline store workers have seen physical assaults increase by 30% while anti-social behaviour and verbal abuse has risen by 20%.

Co-op has warned that if this continues, some communities will become a ‘no-go’ area for local stores.

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A Freedom of Information request by the retailer found that police failed to respond to 71% of serious retail crimes reported.

Hood said that he has seen “horrific incidents of brazen and violent theft” in Co-op stores, adding “it’s hard to over-emphasise how important urgent change is.”

“Co-op has invested significantly in keeping colleagues and stores safe, but we need the police to play their part.

“Too often, forces fail to respond to desperate calls by our store teams, and criminals are operating in communities without any fear of consequences.”

Co-op has invested more than £200m in recent years in colleague and community safety, which equates to four times the average sector spend on security and safety measures per store.

As well as providing equipment such as body-worn cameras and communication headsets for frontline colleagues, Co-op has also recently started placing a reduced level of high-value products on shelves, instead displaying ‘dummy’ products.

cost of living reaching new heights, my local co-op is now a grocery show room. also ft periodic tannoy announcements from mitie security that their cameras are watching you. bleak af pic.twitter.com/C8u7n7zBMf

— laura (@laura_estah) May 28, 2023