More Police and Crime Commissioners outline plans to tackle retail crime

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has reiterated its calls to all Police and Crime Commissioners to prioritise shop theft as more Commissioners outline their plans to tackle crime in their local areas.

Earlier this week, Ben Adams, Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire, met with Spar Retailer Julian Taylor-Green and ACS Government Relations Director Edward Woodall to discuss the impact of shop theft on Julian’s store and across the convenience sector.

Like many retailers across the UK, Julian Taylor-Green is experiencing increased levels of shop theft, so reached out to his PCC to see what more can be done to tackle the persistent shop thieves targeting his store. In addition, Spar Western Downs had experienced both a robbery and fraud incident in the last 12 months. During the meeting, Ben Adams discussed the work that Staffordshire Police are doing to engage with the retail community to tackle retail crime, supporting the rehabilitation of persistent offenders and investing in new technology to help retailers report crime more effectively.

ACS has been campaigning for more action on shop theft from local forces throughout the last year, and has recently launched the Stop Shop Theft Campaign which calls on all Police and Crime Commissioners to deliver the new National Retail Crime Action Plan locally, tell retailers how to report shop theft offences and provide a single point of contact for businesses in their policing area. This week, PCCs in Bedfordshire, Northumbria and Dorset have engaged with the campaign, submitting vital information for retailers trading in those areas.

“We are delighted to see more Police & Crime Commissioners across England and Wales prioritising retail crime and making it clear that shop theft and violence against shopworkers will not be tolerated," said ACS chief executive James Lowman. "Partnership working and information sharing are the keys to making the implementation of the Retail Crime Action Plan work, and we want all retailers to engage with the police, report all crime and act together to identify and apprehend the prolific repeat offenders who blight communities.

"ACS is also in the final stages of collecting responses from retailers for our annual Crime Survey. If you’re a retailer that has been affected by crime over the last year, we want to hear from you. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete, with all responses remaining anonymous. The Crime Survey informs our Crime Report, which will be launched at the Safe and Responsible Retailing Conference in March."