Southern Co-op workers call for end to violent assaults and abuse against their staff
STORE workers have bravely spoken out about their experiences of shocking crime and abuse in a bid to appeal for support.
A video capturing Southern Co-op shop assistants’ experiences has been shared with MPs across the south in Southern Co-op’s plea for help.
The video includes first hand testimonials from workers who have been a victim of crime as well as reenactments and CCTV images which highlight the severity of the issue.
One worker Chris, who has his surname and store withheld for his safety, was involved in a brutal armed robbery.
He said: ‘After the event you think about what you could have done but if you had done that, you don’t know if you would still be on this planet. I had a job to talk about it after and if I did I would get quite upset about it all.
‘All I could think about was the armed side of the robbery.’
The video, which also shows real events taking place on CCTV, has been created on the back of rising rates of abuse and crime.
This rise has led Hampshire Constabulary to launch Operation Monster, which sees police and stores work together to target shoplifting in Portsmouth.
This has led to seven known aggressive shoplifters being arrested and charged, with six remanded to court for a total of 91 offences.
Mark Smith, chief executive for Southern Co-op which is based in Lakeside, Portsmouth and operates more than 200 stores in 11 counties across the south, said: ‘If we all play our part and we all work together then we can stop this wave of violence which has been getting worse over the last few years.
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‘Our stores have faced relentless crime which we aren’t able to tackle alone. We need politicians, police and the rest of society to remember these crimes are not victimless and affect real people.’
Southern Co-op is now asking its colleagues, members and customers to write to their MPs, asking them to support a private members’ bill which aims to provide greater protection for retail colleagues.
The Assaults on Retail Workers Bill, will have its second reading on Friday, October 30.
The bill calls on the government to create a new offence which would carry higher penalties for those that abuse or attack shop workers when they are trying to enforce the law on age-restricted sales.
Central England Co-op, which has more than 260 stores across 16 counties, also said it has seen rising crime. It said verbal abuse has risen by 205 per cent, threats and intimidation by 122 per cent and assaults by 47 per cent.
It also revealed that it had recorded 232 crimes related directly to Covid-19, such as people coughing on colleagues and threatening to ‘give them coronavirus’. It also said it had seen threats of assaults because people have had to queue to enter stores, social distance or simply because they do not have a specific product.
They are combating this with assistance call buttons, tracking devices on products and body-worn cameras on staff.
A petition has also been created. Go to petition.parliament.uk/petitions/328621