Tesco is offering its store workers body cameras as physical assault cases on staff soar to more than 200 each month.
Tesco CEO, Ken Murphy, told The Mail on Sunday that “crime is a scourge on society, and an insult to shoppers and retail workers”, as he has called for tougher laws and changes to policing.
This comes as physical attacks on retail employees are up by a third since 2022, and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found that abuse against retail workers has nearly doubled than that of pre-Covid levels.
Murphy said that the rest of the UK should adopt the same system as Scotland, that would classify abuse or violence towards shop workers as a specific offence.
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He also wants store owners to have the right to know how cases against suspects are progressing, to “spot patterns and provide reassurance that justice is being done”.
Over the past four years, Tesco has invested £44m in security measures such as door access systems, protection screens and digital radios.
Murphy added that better links between police forces and businesses would help to prevent crime from the offset as he told the newspaper that “gangs take advantage of the fact that we do now share enough information”.
This comes as Waitrose is offering free coffees to police officers, hoping the ‘thanks a latte’ initiative will reduce thefts by encouraging law enforcement to make stops in stores.
The Co-op is also extending its trial of anti-theft ‘dummy display packaging’ for some of its targeted products, while some Aldi stores in the UK are ensuring that checkout staff inspect shopping bags for stolen items.
1 Comment. Leave new
Clearly it was a great decision to make security partners redundant….. strangely assaults have gone up 30% since that point having decreased by 50% the previous year…..