Prosecution figures should be made public, says the Scottish Grocers’ Federation
THE Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) is calling for shop crime prosecution figures to be made public.
The demand comes after more than 7,000 cases of abuse and assaults were reported to Police Scotland in less than two years and recent claims of a spike in shoplifting across the UK.
The shocking statistics are a result of the Protection of Workers (Retail) Act that came into force in August 2021 thanks to the work of Daniel Johnson MSP with the support of SGF.
The latest figures from Police Scotland show that the Act has been used 7,056 times to report retail-specific cases of abuse or assault of staff and retailers.
Up to the start of July, there were claims of 37 serious assaults, 3,066 common assaults and 3,953 incidents of threats and abuse.
Now SGF has contacted the Scottish Government, the Lord Advocate and the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service calling for the figures on referrals and convictions relating to the Act to be made public.
The body argues this is essential information to show the Act is a working deterrent.
SGF chief exec Pete Cheema said: “Retail crime and shop theft is a very serious issue for convenience stores and our members.
“People should not have to come to work knowing they will likely have to put up with threats, abuse and, potentially, violence.
“Reports of increased shoplifting are coming in from number of sources, alongside a rise in antisocial behaviour towards staff and within stores.
“It is not only staff wellbeing and businesses that are being impacted by these crimes, but families and the wider community as well.
“While we welcome the figures on the POW Act provided by Police Scotland, we really need to know how many of those cases are being brought to justice.
“That would encourage more retailers to report the crimes happening in-store, daily, and could be an effective way of making potential perpetrators think twice.”
SGF’s annual Scottish Retail Crime Report highlights that 100% of respondents experience shop theft at least once a day and all experience abuse, violence or Hate Crime on a regular basis.
SGF has also approached the Scottish Government to refresh their joint Don’t Put Up With It campaign, delivered in collaboration with Crime Stoppers.
