00:01Shoplifting is often seen as a problem of lost stock but for many stores it's become a question
00:07of staff safety too. Workers can find themselves facing repeat theft, abuse and sometimes violence.
00:14While businesses weigh up how far anyone should go to intervene. One recent case involved a
00:20Morrison's manager who says he was dismissed after confronting a shoplifter who spat at him.
00:26Against that backdrop ministers say change is coming. There's no doubt that we've got a problem
00:33in terms of shoplifting. The fact is that you would never dream of going into a shop and seeing
00:38security guards on the door. That says something. We're reading stories of security guards who get
00:43involved and try and stop shoplifters being disciplined and in some cases being sacked for
00:49their trouble. So there is a sort of there's a problem there no doubt and how to sort of to
00:56alleviate this problem by to stop it is the sort of the big issue. You know we're also sort of
01:02reading
01:02stories of sort of low-cost items like chocolate bars being sort of not barcadded but you know
01:07in sort of security mechanisms that go off when you sort of go through the sort of the door.
01:11Look it's a crime. More than half a million shoplifting offences were recorded in England
01:17and Wales in the year to September keeping that total at historically high levels. Retail groups
01:23say the impact goes well beyond what is taken from the shelves. Stores are spending more on security,
01:30cameras and anti-feff measures while some staff face threats or intimidation when they challenge offenders.
01:37I think the sort of the shopkeepers themselves or the sort of shop owners perhaps they sort of send mixed
01:42signals and of course we've heard police officers say this that they need a sort of a clearer steer on
01:46this and if you're going to sort of to stop it you've got to add in the deterrence. But of
01:50course
01:50the law is not very helpful because of course there is a sort of view that if you're found to
01:55be
01:55shoplifting sort of less than 200 pounds it's not going to be taken to court because it's not worth the
01:59time and trouble. So of course this is something the Home Secretary is dealing with in so far as trying
02:05to sort of to increase the sort of the sanctions and punishment for so doing. But you know what is
02:10it
02:10about what is causing the sort of this this this outwave of lawlessness and there's no doubt we go into
02:16any sort of town or city centre you see a lot of people who are sort of you know down
02:21on their luck
02:22a lot of homelessness but that's not necessarily the people who are sort of shoplifting there is
02:26undoubtedly a whole sort of subculture of criminality that exists and you know dare I say it that the
02:32gangs behind this need to be sort of dealt with but of course dare I sort of say we heard
02:37about
02:37smashing the gangs before Kia Starmer came to power in terms of sort of people smuggling across the
02:42channel so it's really difficult but undoubtedly unless you turn sort of shops into fortresses
02:48which of course is not what you want to do then there is a problem. I also heard somebody talking
02:53about this and he said that modern supermarkets where of course you've got high shelves stacked
02:58right up to the you know practically the ceiling are a part of the problem there are sort of blind
03:02spots
03:02but undoubtedly that you know if someone wants to go in and sort of shoplift and run out there seems
03:07to be sort of very little sort of stopping them doing that and very little deterrent but undoubtedly
03:12some people must go to court but perhaps we need to sort of a different sort of mechanism in the
03:17digital system and a much more radical approach which of course so far seems to sort of fail the
03:22policy makers. The government says the response is changing planned legislation would create a specific
03:28offence of assaulting a retail worker and remove the lower value shop theft rule which critics say reduced
03:35urgency. Supporters argue that should send a clearer message to police and the courts but retail bodies
03:42and unions say law changes alone will not fix the problem they want more visible policing and stronger
03:48action against repeat offenders and organized gangs who target stores. Remember you know shoplifting
03:55it's a crime it's not sort of um victim free there is a cost to someone that's to the shopkeeper
04:01and in some cases if they're sort of experiencing so much um or so greater loss that they can't afford
04:07to trade they go to business and of course we see many sort of um shops doing that or alternatively
04:12they pass on the cost to the consumer so we all pay higher prices so there's a whole set of
04:18sort of
04:18things that need to be sort of dealt with as part of sort of trying to solve the particular problem
04:23and it's not easy and of course let's face it um it comes down to police officers on the sort
04:28of the
04:28spot and we know that police officers are really under pressure in all manner of sort of um
04:34forms of sort of crime so perhaps we need more sort of police officers and more visible police
04:39officers in our sort of towns and city centers um in order to provide that create the deterrent but
04:44of course who's going to pay for that and of course we're in a sort of a public spending sort
04:48of
04:48crisis so yeah do we are we going to pay higher taxes to do with shoplifters well you know that's
04:53a question that sort of will continue to be asked coming up to the next general election
04:58for now shoplifting remains a stubborn problem for retailers workers and customers alike
05:03with pressure growing for stronger enforcement and better protection for staff
05:08this is likely to remain high on the agenda in communities across our region
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