Local shopkeepers hit with almost one million thefts in a year
ACS research shows a reported 72 per cent of corner shop staff have experienced verbal abuse within the last year.
The number of shop thefts committed against retailers over the last year has risen to nearlyone million, new survey findings have revealed.
The Association of Convenience Stores? (ACS) 2018 Crime Reporthas revealed there were over 950, 000 incidents of theft estimated over the last year, doubling from 575, 000 in the previous year.
The top three reasons reported by retailers as to why people steal from their stores being opportunism, motivation by drugs or alcohol addiction and organized groups of criminals.
There were also an estimated 13, 437 incidents of violence reported over the last year, the report found, although it is likely that many more have gone unreported.
Commenting on the report, ACS chief executive, James Lowman, said: Retailers and their staff are on the front line in stores, enforcing the law and protecting their businesses from theft and other crimes.
while convenience stores are community hubs and are a safe place to work, and run a business, unfortunately sometimes violence and abuse against retailers and their staff does occur.
ACS research shows a reported 72 per cent of corner shop staff have experienced verbal abuse within the last year and 39 per cent of violent incidents resulted in injury.
__________________________________________________________________________________ Three ways to secure your business premises from intruders The premises of even the smallest businesses can be filled with items that total thousands of pounds? worth of value not to mention any cash or confidential information you may store onsite.
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There were a reported 3, 690 incidents of theft where a weapon was used in 64 per cent of these cases the offender used a knife.
Other weapon choices consisted of axes, screwdrivers, hammers and real or imitation firearms.
Dealing with shop thieves ranked as the number one trigger for violence and verbal abuse in convenience stores.
Carly Hacon is a reporter for Business Advice. She has a BA in journalism from Kingston University, and has previously worked as a features editor for a local newspaper.
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