Retail crime has long been endemic and has increased in recent years, as attendees at the recent SGF & RAC Crime Seminar discovered.
By Antony Begley
It has long been an unspoken but patently obvious truth that retail crime is the forgotten crime, the crime that appears to be blithely accepted with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders as simply being ‘part of the job’.
Retail crime has been around as long as retail has been around, and that ubiquity has bred a vicious circle whereby retailers don’t even bother reporting crimes because they have little or no confidence in anything ever being done about it by the authorities.
Consequently, the number of reported crimes remains artificially low which, to those not having to deal with violence and abuse on a daily basis, seems to show that retail crime isn’t such a big deal after all.
Retail crime is often malevolently, and erroneously, referred to as a “victimless crime”. Attendees at last month’s Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) and Retailers Against Crime (RAC) seminar found out in the first few minutes of sitting down what this allegedly “victimless crime” looks like in the real world.
CCTV video reels showed terrified shop staff being physically assaulted, shops being trashed and horrendous abuse being dished out to staff who were simply doing their job.
The scenes portrayed were genuinely shocking and it’s hard to understand how anyone can witness behaviour like this without concluding that our efforts to stamp out retail crime thus far have been little more than pathetic. And it’s getting worse.
Rising crime
Both the SGF and the Association of Convenience Stores have published their annual crime reports for 2022 and both reports concluded that “record levels” of retail crime were committed last year. That’s no mean statistic, considering the already sky-high levels of retail crime that have been recorded in years gone by.
Here’s a few stats to ponder from the SGF Crime Survey: 100% of respondents had experienced theft on a daily basis from their store in 2022; 95% of respondents experienced some form of hate crime on at least a monthly basis; 100% of respondents had experienced abuse when asking for proof of age. The list of truly appalling statistics goes on and on, but you get the picture.
There’s little doubt that Covid-19 did have some positive effects on communities across Scotland – not many, but some. We saw some sort of resurgence of old-fashioned community spirit and a willingness among shoppers to support local businesses and economies. But that newfound community spirit clearly didn’t extend to shoplifters and thugs.
The recent ACS Voice of Local Shops survey of over 1,200 independent retailers showed that that the ‘theft index’ (the net percentage of retailers saying that theft has increased in their business) has reached a record level of +26, compared to a previous high of +25 way back in May 2012.
Some 63% of independent retailers reported that theft in their businesses had either increased (35%) or stayed the same (28%) over the last year, with just 9% reporting a decrease in levels of shop theft.
The Voice of Local Shops Survey has been tracking levels of shop theft since the start of 2012 and the theft index had been reasonably steady from 2016 through to early 2021 – but has since risen to now record highs.
Fighting back
It’s against this backdrop that retailers gathered at Hampden Park last month to hear more about how the retail crime plague has been panning out, and to collect some ideas on how to combat it.
The event was opened by SGF Vice President Graham Watson and speakers included Russell Findlay MSP and Police Scotland’s Superintendent Hilary Sloan, who provided key insights into crime in Scotland and an update on the Protection of Workers Act.
A number of informative business breakout sessions cover important practical topics geared to help attendees take action to combat and deal with issues associated with retail crime both now and in the future.
SGF Chief Executive Pete Cheema OBE said: “This is a core issue for both our members and the entire retail sector. Retail crime may be a daily occurrence in many convenience stores but that in no way diminishes its seriousness and the harmful impact it can have on retailers, staff, and businesses.
“Every single incident of abuse or theft that happens in stores across Scotland is one too many. That is why SGF will always take a zero-tolerance approach to crime and ensure that decision makers understand the lasting damage it can have on staff and businesses.”
Maxine Fraser, MD of co-hosts Retailers Against Crime, added: “For over 25 years RAC have been highlighting that retail crime is not victimless, the economic effect it has and its links to serious and organised crime.
“Retail crime is on the increase. Why? Basically, because there are little or no consequences for those that commit crime and acts of violence. Over 10,000 incidents were reported to RAC during 2022, up 20% on 2021. The actual amount stolen in 2022 was up 50% on 2021.
“Major support is required from Scottish government such as permanent early intervention and rehabilitation programmes and providing much more resource to our police force to tackle this ongoing problem.”
