The Co-operative Group has used the start of Respect for Shopworkers Week to warn of the ongoing challenges in addressing retail crime after reporting an eye-opening 43% year-over-year increase in incidents of shoplifting, violence, and anti-social behaviour, totalling nearly 300,000 occurrences this year alone.
Co-op's data reveals that in almost 76% of the cases where its security teams detained serious offenders, police failed to respond, creating a “pressure cooker” environment that endangers both workers and communities.
“We very urgently need to see it in action in our stores, so the desperate calls to the police from my front-line colleagues are responded to and the criminals start to realise there are real consequences to their actions,” said Co-op managing director Matt Hood.
Hood did, however, praise police for significant progress in certain regions, including Nottinghamshire, Essex, and Sussex.
“It is a welcome and reassuring move, which should complement the £200m we’ve invested in colleague and store safety,” he commented.
Yet there remain around 1,000 incidents every single day across its 2,400 stores, with 1,130 physical assaults logged this year to date.
Paddy Lillis, general secretary of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, also expressed concern, stating: “These Co-op findings on police responses are extremely worrying and need to be addressed, because there is an epidemic of shoplifting that too often triggers abuse of shopworkers.”
“This is not an issue that the Police alone can enforce our way out of, working with our partners both in public sector and retail and understanding the limitations and challenges being faced allows for better results for victims and offenders,” stated Inspector Ollie Vale of the Nottinghamshire Police.
“The importance of information sharing and working together cannot be emphasised enough,” he added.
As shoplifting incidents rise, Co-op said it has invested more than £200 million over recent years in colleague and store safety and security, including CCTV, body-worn cameras and dummy packaging.