That was a couple of years ago, but I\u2019m still regularly threatened. I\u2019ve been told, \u201cI hope you get cancer and die\u201d and, \u201cI\u2019ll spit on you\u201d. I\u2019ve been hit with baskets. Luckily, I\u2019ve 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\u2019t put yourself in harm\u2019s way, you never know.<\/p>\n
I will often have other customers saying to me: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you do something?\u201d And some politicians have said we should have a go at taking them on<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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\u2019re so frequent that, chances are, one confrontation would turn dangerous.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got to think of the bigger picture. If I physically restrain a shoplifter and another customer gets involved and injured \u2013 that\u2019s not a risk I can take. Also, it\u2019s against company policy to challenge shoplifters, so I could be disciplined for doing it. All I\u2019m allowed to do is inform shoplifters that they\u2019re barred and ask them to leave, but you have to be so careful.<\/p>\n \u2018The police don\u2019t always come\u2019<\/p>\n When shoplifting occurs<\/a>, we have an alarm button to push that notifies a team of people monitoring our cameras. In most cases, this is what we do.<\/p>\n Around once a month, when the shoplifter is violent or we know they are wanted (when they have hit numerous stores), it\u2019s a case of calling 999. The police usually arrive within five to 10 minutes but they don\u2019t always come. I understand that the police are overstretched<\/a> and that 999 calls need to be triaged in the same way as an A&E department.<\/p>\n Another thing we can do is lock the doors of the shop so violent offenders can\u2019t get in. I most recently did this a couple of weeks ago. While some shops have recruited security guards, I\u2019ve worked in stores that have them and it doesn\u2019t always work as a deterrent.<\/p>\n