That was a couple of years ago, but I’m still regularly threatened. I’ve been told, “I hope you get cancer and die” and, “I’ll spit on you”. I’ve been hit with baskets. Luckily, I’ve not been threatened with a knife, but some of the shoplifters that come in are known to carry them. I always reiterate to the team, don’t put yourself in harm’s way, you never know.
I will often have other customers saying to me: “Why don’t you do something?” And some politicians have said we should have a go at taking them on.
Speak to any member of retail and they will tell you that they wish we could, but we would be putting ourselves and other customers at risk. They might assume these incidents are rare, but they’re so frequent that, chances are, one confrontation would turn dangerous.
You’ve got to think of the bigger picture. If I physically restrain a shoplifter and another customer gets involved and injured – that’s not a risk I can take. Also, it’s against company policy to challenge shoplifters, so I could be disciplined for doing it. All I’m allowed to do is inform shoplifters that they’re barred and ask them to leave, but you have to be so careful.
‘The police don’t always come’
When shoplifting occurs, we have an alarm button to push that notifies a team of people monitoring our cameras. In most cases, this is what we do.
Around once a month, when the shoplifter is violent or we know they are wanted (when they have hit numerous stores), it’s a case of calling 999. The police usually arrive within five to 10 minutes but they don’t always come. I understand that the police are overstretched and that 999 calls need to be triaged in the same way as an A&E department.
Another thing we can do is lock the doors of the shop so violent offenders can’t get in. I most recently did this a couple of weeks ago. While some shops have recruited security guards, I’ve worked in stores that have them and it doesn’t always work as a deterrent.
The shoplifting and violence problem has been building for a long time, but I think it’s amping up even more now because there is widespread awareness that there are not enough prison places in Britain. Thieves know they will often get away with a slap on the wrist or a fine that doesn’t equate to the amount they’ve stolen. So where’s the deterrent? They continue doing it.
With such a high proportion of shoplifters being drug addicts in my experience, the only way I see this ever getting better is if you break the cycle and tackle the drug issue in this country. I know work is being done on this, in my area at least, but it’s not going to be a quick fix. I’m not being negative; it’s just the reality.
When we’re being targeted frequently, I have asked myself whether I want to keep doing this job. I have had colleagues leave the business because of their own fear, or family concerns about their safety.
We work in food retail, it shouldn’t be classed as a high-risk job, but that’s the new reality.
As told to Emily Craig