UK retail staff facing violent behaviour up 12% in a year

Violent events experienced by frontline retail workers increased 12% last year, while it was also revealed that the top 10% of retail crime offenders were responsible for 68% of total in-store crime.

These repeat offenders were also 3.6 times more likely to use a weapon and 3.1 times more likely to be violent.

Use of weapons and threatening events increased 8% and 1% year on year, respectively, and Auror recorded over 154 violent events every day.

The company added that Devon and Cornwall Police have benefited from the use of technology to deal with high-volume crime, reporting a 10% higher charge rate and 47 hours faster average time to process retail crime reports using Auror.

Auror vice-president, trust and safety, Nick McDonnell said: “We’re seeing unacceptable levels of violence in retail – one in every 10 retail crime events involves a frontline colleague being punched, kicked, spat at, threatened with knives.

“These increases are on top of what is already an extraordinarily high level of serious crime in retail settings.

“However, diligent reporting by retailers using Auror shows that this shocking behaviour is directly linked to a small group of prolific offenders, meaning we can act to drive it down.

“If we can work together to identify those causing the most harm, we can focus retail and police resources on those offenders to make high streets safer for everyone.”