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Immediate Action Required to Tackle Shop Theft Epidemic

Retailers have welcomed the findings and recommendations made regarding the impact of shop theft in a new inquiry from the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee. Read our latest blog to learn more.

The House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee (JHAC) has concluded that unacceptable levels of shop theft are causing serious harm to society. Their inquiry found that shop theft is a significantly underreported crime that isn’t being effectively tackled, resulting in a devastating impact on the retail sector, the wider economy and communities.

Escalating Retail Crime

The inquiry into shop theft and retail crime has heard reports and evidence from police chiefs, retailers and industry experts. There were more than 443,000 incidents of shop theft recorded by police forces in the year up to March 2024, the highest level since records began 20 years ago. But the true scale of the escalating crime wave is likely to be far greater, with real figures likely to be around 17 million incidents every year, most of which don’t get reported. This is estimated to have cost the retail sector almost £2 billion last year, resulting in higher prices for consumers and a significant impact on communities and retailers.

The committee heard how shop theft has evolved into large-scale, organised crime, often accompanied by unprecedented levels of violence toward retail workers. Organised criminal networks now see shop theft as a lucrative profit-making opportunity.

Stealing with Impunity

A report commissioned by Co-op and launched in February 2024 highlights how the popular retailer recorded a 44% year-on-year escalation in shop crime with more than a third of a million incidents in 2023. There were over 1325 physical assaults on Co-op retail workers in 2023, which equates to 3 or 4 shop workers attacked of assaulted every day. And there were more than 40,000 incidents of anti social behaviour and abuse toward shopworkers.

The Co-op report, written by Emmeline Taylor, Professor of Criminology in the School of Policy and Global Affairs at City, University of London, presented a 10 point plan for tackling the relentless cycle of retail crime. A key recommendation is to make attacking a shopworker a stand-alone offence.

Like many retailers, the Co-op has invested heavily in preventative measures, spending more than £200 million over recent years. These precautions have included the latest interactive CCTV, fortified kiosks, use of dummy (or empty) packaging, covert and non-covert guarding, body worn cameras and specialist training.

Paddy Lillis, Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) General Secretary, has said:

“Retail crime is not victimless and has long been a major flashpoint for violence and abuse against shopworkers. Having to deal with repeated and persistent offenders can cause anxiety, fear and in some cases physical harm to retail workers.”

Calls for Facial Recognition Laws

The House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee (JHAC) inquiry into retail crime has paid some attention to how police and retailers are using both live and retrospective facial recognition (RFR) to deal with crime. Serious concerns have been raised over the use of live facial recognition (LFR), prompting calls for new legislation to make certain the technology is used safely and ethically by private companies.

Retailers will often collaborate to create localised databases and watchlists of known retail crime offenders. But concerns have been raised due to there being no criminal threshold for being included in these lists, which could lead to a number of issues. For example, it could mean a person is placed on one of these private databases and blacklisted from their local high street, at the discretion of a security guard, without any police oversight. Concerns have also been raised over potential infringements of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) along with misidentification and discrimination.

The Home Office has stated:

“Facial recognition technology is an important tool that is helping the police identify offenders and bring them to justice. We constantly review its use to keep our streets safe and ensure we restore public confidence in our police.”

Justice and Home Affairs Committee Conclusions

Recognising that urgent, immediate action is needed, to deal with the scourge of escalating shop theft and retail crime, the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee (JHAC) has made a number of important recommendations to the government, which they say will "help tackle the problem and keep the public and our economy safer".

Their recommendations include:

• The term “shoplifting” should be phased out as this trivialises the severity of the crime. The term “shop theft” will replace it.
• The Committee stated their support for the plan to repeal the offence of “low-value shoplifting” under section 176 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act. In practice this has been considered as effectively decriminalising shop theft where the value of the goods stolen does not exceed £200.
• The Committee fully supports the creation of a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker.
• Improved reporting systems are needed to enable and encourage retailers to easily and quickly report crimes to the police.
• Improved mechanisms should be established for police and criminal justice systems to recognise and record when a crime has taken place in a retail setting.
• Increased funding is needed for community-based reoffending and rehabilitation initiatives.
• The stolen goods market should be targeted by raising public awareness. Regulations need to be introduced to make it difficult to sell stolen goods online, anonymously.
• Introducing regulations and best practice guidance for the use of facial recognition technology by private companies.

A spokesperson for the Home Office has said:

"We are taking immediate action through our commitment to scrap the £200 shop theft threshold, and making assaults on shop workers a criminal offence.”

"We will also put thousands more dedicated police officers on our streets, and establish a Retail Crime Forum for retailers to confidently implement tactics against shop theft."

Respect for Shopworkers Week 2024

To mark this year’s start to Shopworker’s week Usdaw has launched some shocking statistics from its annual survey. Interim results, from more than 4,000 retail staff responses, show that over the past 12 months 69% have experienced verbal abuse and 45% have been threatened by a customer. 17% of respondents have been assaulted and 70% of all incidents were triggered by shop theft. Many of these shop thefts are reported to have been related to addiction.

The annual Respect for Shopworkers week involves Usdaw members raising awareness of the union’s Freedom from Fear Campaign. They will be talking to the public to promote their message of ‘respect for shop workers’ and ‘keep your cool’. The week runs from November 11th until the 17th and the campaign is particularly important for this time of year as we approach the busy Christmas shopping season.

If you have any questions about retail security mirrors, or if you have any special requirements, remember we are here to help. Give us a call on 01273 475500 and we’ll provide you with free, expert advice.

This message was added on Thursday 14th November 2024