Iceland executive chair Richard Walker believes in-store security should be given more powers to deter shoplifters as he revealed its staff have been threatened with “knives, screwdrivers, hammers and hypodermic needles”.
Walker told LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: “Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. This is no longer about the petty theft. This is about serious violence against our store colleagues by shoplifters, which sadly is becoming more and more of an occurrence.”
‘…things like knives, screwdrivers, hammers hypodermic needles. No one should have to go through this.’
Calling for more in-store security power, Chairman of Iceland @icelandrichard tells @NickFerrariLBC that theft has become an ‘unpunishable crime.’ pic.twitter.com/1TkaqzVh1n
— LBC (@LBC) September 20, 2023
Shoplifting is on the rise across the UK, with the BRC reporting 8 million incidents in the year to March 2023.
Recent data from the Co-op has revealed that there was more than 175,000 incidents at its stores in the first six months of 2023, equating to almost 1,000 retail crime incidents a day, up a whopping 35% year-on-year.
Walker said the grocer has “never spent more on in-store security, yet serious incidents against our staff have never been higher”.
“I think that in-store security need more powers as well to be able to act as a deterrent. The police are now under resourced, underfunded, and they very rarely attend, let alone follow up.”
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Walker pointed out that store security overseas have greater powers to protect staff and detain criminals.
He said: “You go to Spain, and you’ll have noticed that the security there, they don’t mess around. They’ve got truncheons and handcuffs…but there’s only so much our in-store security can do because they’re citizens.”
“They can’t search and arrest and detain indefinitely. And the shoplifters, these are organised gangs now. They know their rights. They know what they can get away with, and they’re quite flagrant.”
Walker also flagged that retailers have “one arm tied behind our back” because they are prohibited to share images of known shoplifters.
Iceland was warned by the government’s data protection unit, the Information Commissioner’s Office, back in 2017 that sharing body camera images of shoplifters with other retailers breached privacy laws.
The frozen food retailer is not the only firm to complain about this. Fellow retail chiefs have pointed out that data protection laws are obstructing the fight against shoplifting.
1 Comment. Leave new
Aww….safety of anyone is vital, save lives. Probably lke those emerging and thrd workd countries, cashiers , some gold shops or such, use jail-like grill or bullet proof glass panels as protection.