The Co-op has revealed that crime in its stores hit record levels last year, surging 44%, as it experienced almost 1,000 incidents per day.
The convenience retailer is urging MPs to amend the Criminal Justice Bill to make attacking a shopworker a standalone offence, as it recorded over 1,325 physical assaults against store staff and more than 40,000 incidents of anti-social behaviour and abuse in 2023.
It is encouraging its 57,000 colleagues and five million member-owners to write to their MP to support the amendment.
Co-op food managing director Matt Hood said: “We are seeing far too many prolific offenders persistently steal large volumes of products in our shops every day and, if they are stealing to fund addictions, the situation often becomes volatile and dangerous.
“Crime is an occupation for some – it is not petty crime, and it is not victimless. It is imperative MPs don’t turn their backs on shopworkers, and vote through the amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to give my colleagues the protection they deserve.”
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It comes as the grocer rolls out more than 200 secure till kiosks, AI technology to monitor self-checkouts and locked cabinets for spirits to help tackle the surge in retail crime.
This adds to measures already in place within its stores such as body-worn cameras and dummy packaging, with Co-op having invested more than £200m over recent years in colleague and store safety.
New data from the retailer found that there has been improvements in police response rates since the introduction of the Retail Crime Action Plan.
Last year, Co-op undercover guards detained 3,361 criminals. It said that police failed to attend in 79% of incidents where perpetrators had been detained, however since the plan rolled out, this figure has improved to 38%.
