New data revealed that 90% of identified shop thieves are repeat offenders, with just 50 individuals responsible for around a quarter of all shop theft offences in the Devon and Cornwall force area, often with more than 100 known offences each. The new system enables stronger intelligence sharing, improved tracking of repeat offenders, stronger cases against prolific offenders and closer collaboration with police. Co-op staff upload incident details, CCTV, photos and impact statements enable police to record and allocate the crime in as little 30 minutes.
Jayne Allport – Usdaw national officer says: “Usdaw works closely with retailers to help protect staff and we welcome the Co-op’s ongoing commitment to deliver on their duty of care. Nobody should fear going to work but, in the face of very high levels of retail crime, too many shop workers are suffering violence, threats and abuse. Usdaw and the Co-op have successfully jointly campaigned for a protection of shop workers law, which was passed earlier this year in the Crime and Policing Act. We now call on the Government to bring this important new measure into force as soon as possible. Retailers cannot tackle crime alone, they and the police need the tools to do the job, so we welcome that new Respect Orders are starting next week to help punish and reform offenders.”
Paul Gerrard, director of campaigns, public affairs and policy at the Co-op, said: “The reduction in retail crime at Co-op is very welcome, but these are green shoots with crime levels remaining higher than before the pandemic. The success of this initiative demonstrates the benefits that we know can be realised when retailers and police work together. We have seen that offenders can be identified and investigations can progress much faster and, importantly for everyone, outcomes improve significantly.”
Chris Chaloner, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “The results from this pilot have been extremely impressive. The evidence provided through the platform is available to officers immediately, allowing investigations to progress much more quickly. Crucially, this approach helps us to link crimes and identify and target those prolific offenders who are responsible for a disproportionate amount of retail crime. We know that a relatively small number of individuals commit a large volume of offences. By working closely with retailers, building effective partnerships and receiving high-quality evidence, we can take earlier action, secure more charges and achieve better outcomes for our high streets and communities.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest with around 370,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also represents many workers in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion