Joining Paddy Lillis on the panel were: Alex Norris MP, Shadow Minister for Policing; Hazel Blears, former minister for policing; Paul Gerrard, Co-op Director of Campaigns and Public Affairs; Paul Richards, Labour and Co-op candidate for Sussex police and crime commissioner, and David Spencer, Head of Crime and Justice, Policy Exchange.
 
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary said: “We are facing an epidemic of retail crime, which is hugely concerning for us, as the union representing retail workers. Our members have reported that they are often faced with hardened career criminals in the stores where they work and we know that retail workers are much more likely to be abused by those who are stealing to sell goods on.
 
“Usdaw research shows that last year, shoplifting was the trigger for 31% of instances of threats, abuse and violence towards our members, more than double the rate when compared to 2016. This evidence shows that it's not just the press reports; retail crime, and abuse of retail workers is getting significantly worse.
 
“One key factor behind the rise in retail crime is addiction, with people stealing simply as a means to feed a habit. Unfortunately, when challenged, these criminals will typically do all they can to ensure they are not detained in a store, or detained by the police. As being detained will mean they will experience withdrawal. As a result, Usdaw members are commonly threatened with assault, stabbing, or needle attacks, just so these addicts can avoid detention.
 
“It is clear that the solution to this problem lies in tackling addiction. Whilst we have seen useful pilots, such as the Offender to Rehab programme in the West Midlands, there has been no nationwide strategy to tackle one of the key drivers of retail crime. A further sign of the Government's reluctance to tackle the issue. It was telling that during last week's Conservative Party Conference, neither the Home Secretary, or the Prime Minister made any mention of tackling retail crime.
 
“We need a Government to take the issue of retail crime seriously, not by suggesting citizens' arrests or ignoring that the problem even exists, but by taking positive steps and actions which have broad consensus across the industry.
 
Steps such as: Creating a specific offence of abusing, threatening or assaulting a retail worker; delivering the resources to enable co-ordination between police forces and retailers; developing a single, national reporting tool so that we can gather accurate data and support retail workers on the front line; providing support to those who have been a victim of abuse or crime at work, and funding recovery programmes which can remove the blight of addiction from our communities.
 
“These solutions will not be easy, but the scale of the crisis requires us to do what is difficult.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 350,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion