Cambridgeshire Police launch week-long crackdown on retail crime
Officers will be stepping up patrols across the county
Cambridgeshire Police are carrying out week-long action to crackdown on retail crime across the county.
Following the success of the National Business Crime Centre’s (NBCC) week of action in October last year, police forces in England have been asked to conduct Safer Business Action Days (SaBA Days) in March, to tie in with the traditional rise in retail crime in the spring.
Officers will be working with retailers and private security in days of targeted activity, which includes high-visibility patrols and checks on known offenders.
Last week, the union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) revealed nearly one-fifth (18%) of all shopworkers suffered a violent attack last year, compared to 8% in 2022.
Of the 5,500 retail staff that responded to the USDAW survey:
70% (68%) have experienced verbal abuse.
46% (43%) were threatened by a customer.
18% (5%) were assaulted
Branch Secretary for Peterborough, Lincolnshire and Rutland, Rachel Birdsall, said: 'Violence has doubled, it has increased in attacks. Verbal abuse, we're seeing that increase every single day.
'We see it on the news, where we've got pictures of shop workers being pulled out of shop doors.
'If people get away with it once, they will try and try again. As a community, we all have to work together.
'We need to see more members of the public standing up for our shop workers when they're being abused, instead of just walking away.
'We don't have that within our communities.'
Crime and Policing Minister Chris Philp said:
“Shoplifting has a detrimental impact not only businesses and high streets, but retail workers themselves who can be subject to unacceptable intimidation and violence.
“We will not tolerate it, which is why we launched the Retail Crime Action Plan and I am very encouraged by the progress already being made by police in delivering against their commitments.
“I won’t be complacent however, we must take a zero-tolerance approach to shoplifting and will continue working with the police and retailers to bear down on this crime – preventing it from happening, and making sure perpetrators face justice when it does occur.”