People in Warwickshire have been urged to be mindful of shopworkers’ essential role serving the public.
They’ve also been reminded that workers should be treated with respect, kindness, and gratitude, as part of the national annual #Shopkind campaign.
Coordinated by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) on behalf of the Home Office, the #ShopKind campaign is supported by major high street retailers as well as smaller independent shopkeepers.
In Warwickshire, it has been supported by members of the Safer Warwickshire Partnership Board including Warwickshire County Council’s Community Safety Team, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Warwickshire Police.
#ShopKind’s aim is to encourage positive behaviours in shops, acknowledge the important role of shopworkers and raise awareness about the scale and impact of violence and abuse against shopworkers.
Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Safety Cllr Andy Crump, Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe, Community Safety Project Manager for Warwickshire County Council Bogdan Fironda, and PCSO Lawton and PCSO Ryan from Warwickshire Police’s local Safer Neighbourhood Team visited The Midcounties Co-operative store on The Parade in Leamington Spa, where they discussed retail crime and business safety with Store Manager Lauren and Gregory Eales from their Safe Stores team (see photo).
A joint approach by Warwickshire partner agencies working in Community Safety has been taken to raise awareness of business crime and support local businesses.
Activities throughout #ShopKind week included raising awareness and tackling anti-social behaviour in retail premises; focusing on prolific offenders; promoting crime prevention to local businesses; high visibility patrols and crime prevention visits; promotion of local support services; and community engagement.
When a business or staff member has been the victim of a crime, or suspect they have been a victim of crime, it is essential that this is reported to the police. This can be done online via Warwickshire Police website or by calling 101. In an emergency, please dial 999.
If you have been a victim of Cyber Crime, please visit Action Fraud 24/7 Live Cyber Reporting for Businesses at www.actionfraud.police.uk.
Phil Ponsonby, Chief Executive Officer at The Midcounties Co-operative, said:
“Campaigns like #ShopKind demonstrate the power of co-operation in tackling important issues such as retail crime. Ensuring our colleagues are treated with respect, kindness and gratitude is paramount and we will continue to work closely with local police, the ACS, and USDAW to do good together in tackling abuse against shopworkers.
“Members of our Safe Stores Team have been visiting stores throughout the week to hear more about the issues that some colleagues have faced. Some of their experiences show just how important campaigns like #ShopKind are in driving awareness, and why we welcomed the Government’s introduction of legislation last month making the abuse of retail workers a standalone criminal offence.”
Philip Seccombe, Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said:
“Retail crime will not be tolerated in Warwickshire. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and that is why I am proud to be a #ShopKind champion.
“I want to improve the outcomes of retail crime in Warwickshire. We now have five new town centre officers, providing visibility and helping to improve engagement with retail businesses. I also provide funding to the Warwickshire Retail Crime Initiative (WRCI), which aims to support the development of better links between police and retailers, as well as providing funding towards Warwickshire Business Watch and Warwickshire’s Hate Crime Partnership, which help provide people with information and ways of reporting.
“It’s important to remember that retail crime is not victimless and causes real emotional and financial impact on businesses, retail workers and their customers. In short, everyone suffers through retail crime and its true impact should therefore never be underestimated. I commission Victim Support to provide that specialist emotional and practical support, to help people cope and recover from the effects of crime.
“We must encourage people to come forward to report crime so that we can take action, ensure the safety of our communities, and make a real and lasting difference.”
Councillor Andy Crump, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, said:
“There are many reasons why businesses may not report a crime, but there are even more reasons why they should.
“Sometimes businesses are reluctant to report a crime as they may think it isn’t serious enough, it feels like a waste of time and effort to report it, or they are concerned about damage to the reputation of their business and losing the confidence of customers or clients.
“But it is important for police to understand what crime is impacting businesses in their areas. By reporting crime, the police can identify patterns and hotspot areas which can enable preventative measures to be put in place both in terms of physical crime as well as cybercrime and fraud.”
Superintendent Steve Davies, local policing lead for Warwickshire Police, said:
“Everyone has a right to go to work without fear of being subjected to abuse and violence.
“We have local policing teams, which include dedicated town centre officers, who are committed to working with local businesses to help keep them and their staff safe.
“I urge any shop workers who have been subjected to abuse and violence to report it to us; we will listen, and we will take action against offenders.”
There are a range of partnerships in place in Warwickshire to support businesses and those affected by business crime.
Warwickshire Business Watch has been created in partnership between the Warwickshire County Council Community Safety Team, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Warwickshire Police. Its main aim is to provide information and advice to businesses, helping them to protect themselves from becoming victims of crime.
This site contains many useful downloadable documents and links which will help protect your business from becoming a victim of crime. More information is available at www.warwickshirebusinesswatch.co.uk.
The Warwickshire Retail Crime Initiative Limited (WRCI) is a countywide partnership approach to prevent and reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in retail and licensed business premises in Warwickshire with members in Leamington Spa, Warwick, Kenilworth, Stratford, Rugby, Atherstone, Nuneaton and Bedworth and villages in Warwickshire.
The WRCI is working to bring businesses together to work in partnership with the Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner, Warwickshire County Council, District and Borough Councils, CCTV, Business Improvement Districts, the National Association of Business Crime Partnerships, and other national and local organisations to tackle crime and disorder in our business communities. This ranges from shoplifting to violence in licensed premises.
Find out more about the scheme and sign up at www.wrci.org.uk.
Victim Support exists to help anyone affected by crime, not only victims, but their friends, family and any other people involved.
Because they’re an independent charity, shopworkers who have been affected by crime can talk to them whether or not they reported the crime to the police.
Visit the Victim Support pages for Warwickshire online for more information or contact them direct:
- Local victim care team: 02476 351003
- National SupportLine: 0808 16 89 111 You can also Live Chat with trained advisors 24/7 at www.victimsupport.org.uk.
Warwickshire’s Hate Crime Partnership have their own dedicated website to tackle hate crime. This contains information, links to support services and resources available to download, to help raise awareness of hate crime and discrimination.
On the Report Hate Now website, there are facilities to report hate incidents either to the Police via True Vision, or the Partnership via independent charity EQuIP. Find out more at www.reporthatenow.com.
