Independent retailers are calling on police to proactively investigate all reports of intimidation and assault so that no shoplifting gangs escape justice.
An open letter to police and crime commissioners in England and Wales claimed shoplifting is the “primary trigger for violence and abuse of shopworkers”, adding that organised gangs and prolific offenders commit most of these crimes, The Telegraph reported.
This comes as leading retailers including John Lewis, Waitrose and Co-op have also called on police to do more in tackling retail crime and have urged the government to clamp down on increasing levels of theft by introducing tougher legislation.
Last week, Iceland Foods executive chairman Richard Walker said that colleagues are being “slapped, punched and threatened with a range of weapons including knives, hammers, firearms and hypodermic needles.”
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The open letter has been signed by seven large organisations representing retailers including the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the British Independent Retail Association (BIRA), the Federation of Small Businesses, the Federation of Independent Retailers (FIR) and Usdaw.
It said: “We often see scenarios where violence against shopworkers is not responded to by the police because incidents do not meet forces’ threat, harm and risk criteria as offenders have left the premises after committing an offence.
“In the vast majority, if not all, of retail businesses there will be CCTV footage available to support police lines of inquiry into violent incidents.
“Therefore, we would like to see the proactive collection of evidence prioritised by police forces.”
The groups are also looking to make it easier for retailers to report crime and submit evidence to police.
This comes as the BRC found that abuse against retail workers has nearly doubled than that of pre-Covid levels and has estimated that theft is costing retailers almost £1bn per year.
Earlier this month, a new partnership – named Project Pegasus – was created, which is set to receive £600,000 from ten supermarkets including John Lewis, Waitrose, Co-op, Tesco and Sainsbury’s to implement new face-scanning technology.
The project will be ran through police chief’s national database, giving law enforcement officers an idea of where shoplifting gangs are operating.
