Worrying data from the BRC on Retail crime and staff abuse

Despite a reduction in offences the cost of retail crime has significantly risen, according to a new study from the British Retail Consortium. The overall cost of retail crime has increased by 31 per cent to £1.4 billion. This is equivalent to 130,000 retail jobs.

A worrying trend this year is the increase in threats and verbal abuse to retail staff which has increased by 83 per cent when compared to last year. Robberies have also increased by 20 per cent with retailers reporting an increase in the use of weapons and violence.

At Connexion2 we have seen a marked increase in retailers adopting Identicom as part of their war on staff abuse, the ability to capture evidence of verbal abuse such as racial aggression and threats being of prime importance.

For the full BRC study, see http://www.brc.org.uk/brc_show_document.asp?id=4324&moid=7614