Charity shops targeted by violent thieves as shoplifting offences surge – Telegraph.co.uk

Charity shops are increasingly being targeted by aggressive thieves amid concern the police have given up on tackling an epidemic of violent shoplifting.

Volunteers working in Britain's 11,500 charity shops have also reported being subjected to rising levels of abuse and even assaults as they give up their free time to help good causes.

According to the latest data, almost half of charity shops (47 percent) have experienced increases in the theft of stock, while a quarter report a rise in incidents of violence against staff.

It is thought shoplifters deliberately target charity shops, stealing clothes, bric a brac, and vinyl records, because there is less CCTV and security than at other stores.

Details of the disturbing trend emerged as the British Retail Consortium (BRC), unveiled the results of its annual crime survey, which reports a sharp rise in the number of attacks on shop workers, including offences involving knives.

There are now more than 420 incidents of violence and abuse every day, with some victims showing signs of post traumatic stress disorder similar to that suffered by members of the military and emergency services.

In some areas of the country shop workers have accused the police of effectively decriminalising shoplifting by only turning out if the value of the goods stolen is more than 200.

Around 70 percent of store owners said they had received a very poor response from police when they had reported an offence on their premises.

Robin Osterley, the chief executive of the Charity Retail Association, said the increase in abuse and violence against shop workers was something that was also being seen in the charity sector.

He said: "Clearly charity retail workers and volunteers are by no means immune from all of this, in fact they seem to stand in exactly the same situation, which is kind of sad.

"You might think that people would be less inclined to commit crimes in charity shops or on volunteers but it doesn't appear to be the case. Retail appears to be retail as far as this is concerned."

He said thieves would often target clothes, bric a brac and vinyl records and could turn nasty when challenged by volunteers.

Mr Osterley said other flash points for violence and abuse could come if staff refused to accept donations from members of the public who then became angry.

He said: "People turn up give up their own time in order to help charities and find themselves being abused and in some cases assaulted for their efforts. So there is a huge impact on morale.

"There seems to be a view that theft from a charity shop is victimless crime because most of the goods have been donated, but effectively you are not stealing goods from a charity shop you are stealing services and access to services from the charities' clients.

"People think they pop into a charity shop lift up a jumper and no one will really notice and no one will really care, but people do notice and people do care. That is very dispiriting and depressing for volunteers and staff as well."

He went on: "Like other retail companies our members are telling their staff not to intervene because it is not safe. In the old days when people used to chase shoplifters down the street, you absolutely can't do that now because it is just not safe.

"Our members experience considerable difficulty in getting what they would regard as an appropriate response from the police because the sheer monetary value of the goods that are being stolen can be quite low but that ignores totally the human cost of the abuse and violence that takes place."

Mr Osterley said it was too expensive for charity shops to install CCTV or employ security guards.

It is estimated that commercial retailers spent around 1.2 billion on crime prevention, while losses to the sector from shoplifting is excess of 1 billion.

The BRC is calling on the government to introduce new legislation that would make assaults on retail workers a specific criminal offence.

Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: Over 400 retail workers are subjected to violence or abuse in the workplace every day. These are not just statistics; these are real people who work hard for millions of customers every day. From abuse, to threats, to violence, those affected carry these experiences with them for a lifetime.

The Government must help put an end to the scourge of retail crime. This means a stronger police response to criminal incidents, and new legislation to introduce tougher sentences for those who assault retail workers. No one should have to go to work fearing violence or threats.

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Charity shops targeted by violent thieves as shoplifting offences surge - Telegraph.co.uk