Another consequence of ridiculous prices due to the cost of corporate profiteering crisis.
The common narrative is that shoplifting is increasing due to parents with hungry kids, I don’t doubt this happens but I’ve read that the majority of value being stolen is gang related.
A single parent conveniently forgetting to scan a bag of rice is one thing, but a criminal with a back pack full of valuable goods is the real concern, and it’s these people that are likely to be armed and dangerous if confronted.
Retail workers definitely don’t earn enough to risk getting stabbed over some spirits and fancy honey, and most security staff aren’t allowed to do more than call the police.
When I worked in hospitality we would have to call the police for a variety of reasons. We had a guy with a knife openly snorting coke in the corner of the restaurant area and the police response time was about 2 hours, despite my work being a 5 minute walk from the station.
It’s a horrible and messy situation, that could have been avoided, but at this point I don’t see a solution that our greedy politicians will be willing to pay for when our tax money could be going into an offshore account instead.
Consistently make people’s lives worse
WhY aRe PeOpLe CrImE
Shop workers have literally no responsibility to stop shoplifters so their bosses can make a bit of extra cash, let them take shit and you won’t be attacked, it’s not difficult.
>White warned that retail-dependent town centres are becoming “a looting ground for emboldened shoplifters and organised gangs”, and called for a formal government commission to be convened to deal with the crisis.
So while causes of crime are always complex, there are some indications that the surge in violence against shop staff and thefts from shops bucks long term trends.
I think people would do well to steer clear of the hot takes from people that this is all down to poor people stealing crusts of bread to keep their starving children alive type excuses.
There is a reasonable possiblity that is organised crime and perhaps social contagion from Tik Tok trends as happened in Oxford Street.
Violent crime is lower than it has been in decades, so that’s not really a concern. We’re probably finding that more people are stealing non-luxury items though to try and feed themselves.In my humble opinion, when supermarkets wiped out all of the other retailers with monopolies, nobody said anything because it was convenient. However over the last few decades the big supermarkets have not been looking after their staff, have continued to capitalise on their monopolies and gauge profits for shareholders. Not to mention self-service tills.I’m really not that bothered if they moan about people stealing the odd block of cheese or chocolate bar. They’ve been taking the piss out of us all for years.
The media’s shock at the situation however tells me somethings going on. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start justifying large-scale application of facial recognition soon.
Yes, bow to our evil corporate overlords and put our lives on the line to protect their wealth in exchange for minimum wage, admonish the poor and blame them for the state of things… be a good peasant – you may be rewarded with an extra turnip come Yuletide…
7 comments
Another consequence of ridiculous prices due to the cost of corporate profiteering crisis.
The common narrative is that shoplifting is increasing due to parents with hungry kids, I don’t doubt this happens but I’ve read that the majority of value being stolen is gang related.
A single parent conveniently forgetting to scan a bag of rice is one thing, but a criminal with a back pack full of valuable goods is the real concern, and it’s these people that are likely to be armed and dangerous if confronted.
Retail workers definitely don’t earn enough to risk getting stabbed over some spirits and fancy honey, and most security staff aren’t allowed to do more than call the police.
When I worked in hospitality we would have to call the police for a variety of reasons. We had a guy with a knife openly snorting coke in the corner of the restaurant area and the police response time was about 2 hours, despite my work being a 5 minute walk from the station.
It’s a horrible and messy situation, that could have been avoided, but at this point I don’t see a solution that our greedy politicians will be willing to pay for when our tax money could be going into an offshore account instead.
Consistently make people’s lives worse
WhY aRe PeOpLe CrImE
Shop workers have literally no responsibility to stop shoplifters so their bosses can make a bit of extra cash, let them take shit and you won’t be attacked, it’s not difficult.
Violent crime is about 1/4 what is was in 1995
[https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingseptember2022#violence](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingseptember2022)
​
Similarly theft offensives were shown to be down.
[https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingseptember2022#theft-offences](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingseptember2022#theft-offences)
​
While the article puts the issue down too
>White warned that retail-dependent town centres are becoming “a looting ground for emboldened shoplifters and organised gangs”, and called for a formal government commission to be convened to deal with the crisis.
[https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/police-londons-oxford-street-looting-social-media-security-guards/](https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/police-londons-oxford-street-looting-social-media-security-guards/)
So while causes of crime are always complex, there are some indications that the surge in violence against shop staff and thefts from shops bucks long term trends.
I think people would do well to steer clear of the hot takes from people that this is all down to poor people stealing crusts of bread to keep their starving children alive type excuses.
There is a reasonable possiblity that is organised crime and perhaps social contagion from Tik Tok trends as happened in Oxford Street.
Violent crime is lower than it has been in decades, so that’s not really a concern. We’re probably finding that more people are stealing non-luxury items though to try and feed themselves.In my humble opinion, when supermarkets wiped out all of the other retailers with monopolies, nobody said anything because it was convenient. However over the last few decades the big supermarkets have not been looking after their staff, have continued to capitalise on their monopolies and gauge profits for shareholders. Not to mention self-service tills.I’m really not that bothered if they moan about people stealing the odd block of cheese or chocolate bar. They’ve been taking the piss out of us all for years.
The media’s shock at the situation however tells me somethings going on. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start justifying large-scale application of facial recognition soon.
Yes, bow to our evil corporate overlords and put our lives on the line to protect their wealth in exchange for minimum wage, admonish the poor and blame them for the state of things… be a good peasant – you may be rewarded with an extra turnip come Yuletide…