A coalition of British retail industry groups and the USDAW workers union has written to police leaders in England and Wales asking them to back a plan to counter a "torrent of thefts."
The British Retail Consortium estimates that the cost of theft in the sector has reached ยฃ1bn ($1.24bn) a year and local convenience stores are reporting the highest levels of theft recorded in the last decade. Last week, John Lewis Partnership, owner of Waitrose department stores and supermarkets, claimed Britain was seeing an "epidemic" of shoplifting, with its own "loss", mainly theft, of ยฃ12m in the first semester.
Similarly, clothing chain Primark said its profit margins had been hit by a rise in theft, while supermarket Tesco said rising crime in stores had led it to offer body cameras to its staff. In the letter to police and crime commissioners, who are responsible for setting police priorities and budgets at a local level, published on Wednesday, industry groups called on forces to make it easier for retailers to report crimes and sharing evidence, such as CCTV footage.
They also want police resources to focus on getting prolific repeat offenders off the streets, and want forces to prioritize gathering evidence of violent attacks on shop workers. "Shoplifting is far from a minor crime, it is the main trigger of violence and abuse of shop workers and is often committed by prolific criminals or organized crime gangs," the letter says, also signed by the Association of Convenience Stores, the British Association of Independent Retailers. , read the Federation of Small Businesses and the National Federation of Retail Kiosks.
Association of Police and Crime Commissioners' business and retail leader Katy Bourne, Sussex PCC, said she understood the retail sector's frustration and is working with police to improve their response. "From the many businesses I have encountered, it is sadly evident that all too often the police response they have received (assuming they have received it) is not what they expected," she said.
But he acknowledged that police forces face enormous daily demands on their finite resources. ($1 = 0.8064 pounds)
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