SLR speaks to Police Scotland partner Retailers Against Crime about the new Retail Crime Taskforce, and the measures being taken to fight crime.
By Sarah Britton
Despite the thousands of people being greeted, served and uplifted every day; a continual stream of passionate community support; and the plethora of delicious products and exciting innovations that make convenience such a unique and engaging industry to be part of, the sector is permanently overshadowed by the spectre of retail crime.
It is destroying the physical and mental wellbeing of shop workers and customers, wreaking financial havoc, causing people to leave their jobs and deterring people from joining the sector. Heartbreakingly, almost two-thirds (62.5%) of Scottish convenience retailers surveyed by the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) have at least one member of staff who has experienced mental health and wellbeing issues as a result of the impact of retail crime.
The situation has become so deplorably desperate – 99.5% of Scottish convenience retailers report that shoplifting is a daily occurrence, according to the SGF – that the Scottish Government has been forced into action, stepping up its commitment to crack down on retail crime. But dare we dream this could sow the seeds of change, marking a shift in the approach to the tidal wave of retail crime that is strangling our sector?
When ScotGov allocated £3m to tackling retail crime in the Scottish Budget in December, there was a mixed response from the retail industry, with David Lonsdale, Director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, stating that retailers would “warmly welcome” this support, while SGF Chief Executive, Dr Pete Cheema, warned it may be “too little, too late”, noting that “£3 million will only go so far”.
SGF Head of Policy & Public Affairs, Luke McGarty, has since called on the government to make a lasting commitment to retail crime. “For a positive step like that to work… that kind of money has to be sustained year-on-year,” he told the Economy and Fair Work Committee.
He also highlighted that reducing crime would help the mental health of those in the retail industry. “If retailers have the retail crime aspect more suitably addressed, you’ll have retailers that are not in fear of their own health and wellbeing in terms of their safety.”
Stephanie Karté, National Operations Manager at Stirling-based retail crime partnership, Retailers Against Crime (RAC), concurs that further funding is needed, but she is feeling decidedly positive. “£3m is a drop in the ocean in terms of what they need… we want this £3m to be an annual amount,” she says. “But it’s a great starting point.”
Dedicated unit
At the end of March, Police Scotland announced that the funding had been used to create the Retail Crime Taskforce, with the aim of addressing a rise in offences, such as shoplifting. The team is made up of 14 uniformed officers and detectives, as well as four civilian staff, including specialist analysts and an Architectural Liaison Officer.
The uniformed officers will operate within Edinburgh, Glasgow and Lanarkshire, as crime figures show these areas experience the highest levels of retail crime.
On a daily basis the Taskforce will target repeat offenders of retail crime by using analytical data and intelligence to carry out proactive enforcement activities in areas most heavily impacted.
Police Scotland states that other divisions requiring support with delivering prevention activities and assisting stores to protect their premises can request the assistance of specialist Taskforce resources.
The Taskforce’s Architectural Liaison Officer will also be engaging with retail premises to identify ways in which they can enhance security and crime prevention measures in place and reduce incidents occurring.
In addition to funding the Taskforce, the investment will be used to develop diversionary programmes aimed at reducing re-offending and youth offending, and focus on enforcement in relation to repeat offenders and organised crime.
At the launch of the Taskforce, Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs said: “The establishment of the Retail Crime Taskforce demonstrates our commitment to working alongside key partners and the retail sector to both prevent retail crime occurring, but to conduct thorough and professional enforcement activity to identify those responsible whenever it does arise.
“We know that enforcement alone cannot successfully reduce retail crime and so the partnership approach to safeguarding stores and exploring opportunities to work collaboratively to address the root causes of such offences will play a significant role in the work of the Taskforce.”
A Scottish Government initiative for sharing digital evidence from crime scene to courtroom is being rolled out across Scotland.
Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC) allows police officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers, court staff and judges to access a secure, unified system to collect, store, process and manage evidence digitally.
During a pilot of the programme in Dundee, around 19,500 pieces of evidence were handled through DESC, with almost 550 hours of police officers’ time freed up.
DESC handles evidence including CCTV footage, photographs, and data and other materials from computers and mobile devices, enabling retailers to submit digital evidence more easily by email when sent a link by a police officer. DESC will be used wherever possible to secure earlier criminal justice outcomes for those charged with retail crimes.
What’s more, in Fife, a number of retailers are trialling a self-reporting pilot scheme whereby they can send a crime report to the police in under 15 minutes. Utilising RAC’s SentrySIS system, they can provide statements and images of potential suspects direct to Police Scotland, saving valuable police resource and retailers’ precious time.
A full evaluation of the pilot will be completed in 2025 before the next steps are decided.
Collaborative approach
RAC is one such organisation involved in supporting the Taskforce. The police will be making use of the organisation’s SentrySIS crime-fighting tool, which allows users to share real-time information about thefts and carries information on more than 16,000 offenders UK-wide. In fact, Karté just had a video call about the Taskforce before speaking to SLR. “We were talking about what it looks like with the four Ps – prevent, pursue, protect and prepare. They’re going to bring various different officers in and police staff and we’re a key part of that process as well.
“It’s all about everybody coming together because this problem’s not going to go away. But what we can also see is it’s not just going to be rectified using just one area of expertise – the police can’t do it all themselves, they need to use various different methods, for example, crime partnerships. The knowledge that gets circulated, that’s worth its weight in gold.”
She claims that RAC’s intelligence is also shared with crime partnerships in other countries so that they can build a picture of what’s happening across borders with travelling criminals, as well as those local to retailers. “There’s not just one type of criminal when it comes to retail crime, it’s right across the board.”
She is confident that the Taskforce will make a strong impact. “I’m feeling positive,” she says. “They’ve certainly put some legwork into it already and it is off to a running start. It looks like they’ve got a lot of great plans in place, and I think there will be a lot of results to come out of this.”
Of course, the Taskforce isn’t the only measure being taken to tackle retail crime. RAC holds regular Days of Action where the group teams up with Police Scotland for a concentrated effort to take a stand against shoplifters. “It gives the police an insight into what retailers are going through on a daily basis,” she says. The police and RAC gather intelligence on prolific shoplifters offending within a particular area and they can be arrested on the day.
Prior to the action days, all retailers in the area are invited to a briefing to prepare them for the day ahead. A day of action in Glasgow is planned for 8 May when 29 officers will take to the streets to tackle retail crime.
Another Day of Action is planned for Edinburgh on 17 June. “It’s only one day, but it builds up relationships between the police, so retailers know exactly who their town centre Sergeant is, and obviously they can liaise with them going forward,” says Karté.
Although many convenience retailers have become despondent when it comes to reporting crime – SGF figures show 48.2% are unlikely or very unlikely to report shoplifting incidents to the police – Karté implores retailers to do so. “You’ve got to keep reporting! With the Taskforce coming in we’re going to start seeing results. You need to report incidents to the police. If they don’t know there’s a problem, they can’t help. It’s not about standing back and seeing if the police solve the issue, that’s not it. I really, really believe that everybody’s got their part to play, including retailers.”
For more information on Retailers Against Crime, contact info@retailersagainstcrime.org.
Another way that Retailers Against Crime is helping to reduce retail crime is through its Educating Youth programme, which educates children at primary and high school age on the impact and consequences of retail crime.
Karté explains that in extreme circumstances, some children are being exploited by their own parents and encouraged to steal on their behalf because they’re under 16 and it won’t go on their criminal record.
“If kids are not getting told or taught right from wrong at home, especially when it comes to such an important issue as this, then they need to be taught when they are safe at school,” she says.
Part of the presentation is a film, which uses a sliding doors technique to show the consequences of different decisions. “Because of peer pressure a girl does something to prove herself to friends,” says Karté, “and then there’s an alternative version where she realises life isn’t all about that.”
Afterwards, RAC breaks the children up into groups to discuss who they think are the victims of retail crime. “People need to stop being scared of retail crime and talk about it,” she says.
