Co-op boss warns shop crime is ‘out of control’ as one store is looted three times in one day

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The boss of Co-op has warned that shop crime is out of control after one store was looted three times in a single day.

New data released by the supermarket chain revealed it had recorded its highest-ever levels of retail crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour this year.

The company said there was a 35 per cent increase in crime this year, with almost 1,000 incidents a day in the six months to June 2023, while one inner city London store was targeted three times in a day.

Matt Hood, Co-op Food’s managing director, said he had seen “horrific incidents of brazen and violent theft” in its stores, and warned that “out of control” levels of crime could deprive communities of their local shops.

The supermarket chain also warned that criminals have “freedom to loot” after a Freedom of Information request by Co-op revealed that police failed to respond in 71 per cent of serious retail crimes reported. 

Data also revealed that  store workers saw physical assaults increase year-on-year by almost 30 per cent, while anti-social behaviour and verbal abuse rose by 20 per cent.

One store manager in east London described witnessing looting as “terrifying”.

“I have spent 20 years at Co-op, and it is worse now than ever before,” the workers said. “It’s like you are stuck. Shoplifting has always been there, but this is different, they just sweep the products off the shelves. There is nothing you can do.

“They have even smashed our outer doors to get in. We call the police, and have been told to call ‘101’. It is being normalised, but colleagues are terrified, and their families are worried for them every day they come into work.

“We have even had people dropped off, in blacked-out cars, to steal, then picked back up again. It is organised. We need to make sure no one gets hurt, something needs to change.”

Meanwhile, other store managers said looting had got “worse and worse” since the pandemic.

“We risked our lives working through Covid, and now it feels like we are risking our lives all over again,” said a northwest London store manager.

The retailer is now urging police to target prolific offenders and organised criminal gangs, who, according to the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) annual crime report, are responsible for almost two-thirds of crime.

Mr Hood said: “I have seen some horrific incidents of brazen and violent theft in our stores, where my store colleagues feel scared and threatened.

“I see first-hand how this criminal behaviour also erodes the very fabric of our communities – it’s hard to over-emphasise how important urgent change is. Co-op has invested significantly in keeping colleagues and stores safe, but we need the police to play their part.

“Too often, forces fail to respond to desperate calls by our store teams, and criminals are operating in communities without any fear of consequences.”

Phillip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley and the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on customer service, said the “patchy” record of police forces on responding to retail crimes was “not good enough.”

He said: “Our frontline workers deserve far better. It is no good having stricter laws in place to punish offenders if the police are not properly investigating these crimes and ensure perpetrators are punished. Those police forces with the worst record need to find out what those with the best record what they are doing and ensure they bring themselves up to the same standard.”

Police inspector Oliver Vale, Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Retail crime is something we recognise within Nottinghamshire Police as being an issue that needs to be proactively tackled but we cannot do this alone and the information sharing model that Op Synergy has developed has allowed for us to collaboratively secure significant convictions and prohibitive orders on some of our most prolific retail offenders by working with the Co-op.”