RESEARCH
RETAIL CRIME ACS CRIME REPORT 2021
£142M LOST TO CRIME IN LAST YEAR THE LATEST ACS CRIME REPORT REVEALS SOME STAGGERING FIGURES THAT ILLUSTRATE VERY CLEARLY HOW RETAIL CRIME REMAINS THE
T
BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING THE LOCAL RETAILING SECTOR.
he 2021 Crime Report, launched by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) yesterday, has thrown the spotlight one more on the horrific extent of
10 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 48 / WEDNESDAY 24TH MARCH 2021
retail crime. Crime has cost local shops more than £142m in the last year and almost 400,000 industry colleagues continue to face abuse on a routine basis. The report reveals that 89% of colleagues working in local shops have experienced some form of abuse, with over 1.2 million incidents recorded over the last year. Throughout the pandemic, convenience stores have stayed open, providing essential goods and services whilst adapting their businesses to ensure that they’re Covid secure. But despite limits on customer numbers in many stores and an overall drop in the number of people visiting c-stores over the last year, there have still been an estimated 1.1 million incidents of shop theft recorded in the convenience sector. ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “Over a million shop thefts and incidents of violence and abuse aren’t just big numbers, each one is a crime that has a personal impact on retailers and their colleagues. For so many people in local shops to have suffered this kind of abuse, just for doing their jobs, is shocking and must not be allowed to be normalised. “Convenience stores have been on the front line serving their communities throughout the last year, but despite this they have been the constant target of criminals, often repeat offenders, who aren’t being dealt with properly by the justice system. This results in fewer retailers being willing to report crimes and less trust in the ability of the police to respond to incidents when they occur. “We need action now to ensure that everyone, from neighbourhood police and the courts to Police and Crime
