Crime Prevention

The first Crime Prevention Forum of 2011 has revealed that retailers are taking effective measures to reduce crime in their stores, but that this comes at a much greater cost when crime does occur.

ACS Public Affairs Executive Edward Woodall, presenting at the forum, announced the results of the 2010 ACS Crime Survey to the retailers in attendance at the Palace Hotel in Manchester. The survey, which looks at instances of robberies, burglaries, staff theft, till snatches, violent crime and verbal abuse revealed that in the majority of cases, crime had fallen over the last year. However, costs for retailers had been driven up after increased investment in crime prevention measures and suffering more targeted robberies.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “These figures reveal significant concerns for local shops. One especially alarming statistic is that the cost of each robbery has increased by 190% to £2,880, despite the number of instances falling by almost 60%. These numbers show that retailers must take extra precautions to protect their high value goods and cash in-store.”

Numbers: Crime

  • 51% of retail offences dealt with by fines went unpaid in 2009
  • 22% of all crimes take place on business premises. Half of those take place on retail premises
  • 3413: The number of shops taking part in the Crime Survey in 2010
  • £2,880: The average cost per instance of a convenience store robbery in 2010
  • 90%: The amount that the average cost of staff theft per store has fallen in the last 12 months
  • £690.72: The average cost of crime per convenience store in 2010, as reported in the ACS Crime Survey
  • 78%: The percentage of shoplifters who reoffended in 2009
  • £50,000: The potential reward offered by ACS through Crimestoppers for information after serious violent incidents of crime against retailers
  • 101: The new number for non-emergency calls


Aside from the publication of the 2010 crime statistics, retailers in attendance at the Crime Prevention Forum heard from a variety of presenters on the themes of justice, business best practice and community crime fighting under the banner of the Government’s new localism agenda. Opening the day, Cat Drew, head of the Home Office’s Neighbourhood Policing team, told retailers about the variety of ways that they can get involved with community initiatives to fight crime. One of the most effective ways for retailers to play their part was to get involved with beat meetings in the area, which Cat described as an excellent way for local people and businesses to set crime-fighting priorities in the community for the police.

Also speaking on the topic of community crime fighting, Julie Davies from the Stoke on Trent Business Crime Partnership told retailers about the things that business crime partnerships can do to help reduce crime, including having a network of real-time radio links, circulating photographs of repeat offenders and providing conflict management training for staff.

Speaking in the Business Best Practice session, Ben Thomson from Bury Council’s Greater Manchester Retail Violence Initiative gave retailers practical information on how they can minimize the damage that criminals can do to their business, whether it be through skimming tills regularly or making sure that all access points are secure.

In the final session on Justice, Brian Stoddard, Operations Manager for G & E Murgatroyd spoke about the benefits and risks of civil recovery schemes. Brian told those in attendance that while civil recovery is a great idea for businesses in theory, the reality is that the costs associated with such schemes far outweigh the benefits of regaining money taken from the business.

The day also featured an opportunity for those in attendance to field their questions to the speakers. Spar retailer Jonathan Clarke raised the point of inspections with the speakers, noting that in many cases inspectors will take a very heavy handed approach after a robbery or violent incident instead of showing empathy toward the business and its staff.

The next Crime Prevention Forum will take place on October 12 2011.
 

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