The APCC welcomes action to protect retail workers after Policing Minister Kit Malthouse confirmed this week that the Government has tabled an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, to ensure that the current aggravating factor, used in cases of assault, will apply to retail workers.
APCC lead for Business Crime, PCC Katy Bourne, said:
Retail workers provide a public duty and vital service and so should be better protected from assault and abuse which is why the introduction of an aggravated offence is very much welcomed by Police & Crime Commissioners. As a member of the National Retail Crime Steering Group, I have fed into this review on behalf of my colleagues and pushed for stronger protections and action.
All too often we have heard stories of violence or verbally abusive incidents and their detrimental effect on retail workers. This sends a powerful message that this sort of abuse will not be tolerated.
PCCs have been working constructively with Government and partners to better understand shoplifting, abuse and violence against shop workers, as well as examining the reporting, recording and response from the police.
Last year Sussex developed the Keeping Christmas Kind campaign to highlight the daily incidents of abuse and assaults suffered by shopworkers and, this year, PCCs are supporting the national ShopKind message to remind the public of the need to show kindness to all our frontline retail workers, not just at Christmas but all year round.