OPINION: Our motivation to keep fighting against retail crime

Every hard-working retailer has the right to feel safe, protected and respected in the environment they choose to make their living, and deliver a duty of care to the people who work for them.

I believe that by taking a stand as a community, reporting every instance of crime and building relationships with the police and local councils, retailers can make a difference to their business and the community around them.

Government funding is allocated on evidence. For the police budget to benefit the retail sector, crimes big and small need to be reported and logged.

Every retailer faces the same dilemma when they invite the public into their store. Do you display high-value items on the shop floor to maximise sales and run the risk of loss to the less desirable element of society or not?

Deterring the undesirables is possible with the use of CCTV recording devices and keen staff but these are not very successful without your back up and attention.

We have photos, names and details of prolific shoplifters in the back room for staff to view, which helps with identification and we train our staff to be observant but safe while working for us

Many retailers are understandably frustrated by the amount of time it takes to simply report a crime and decide not to bother, preferring instead to accept retail crime as something to be endured.

Our policy is to report every instance of crime we experience and create our own logs.

We have photos, names and details of prolific shoplifters in the back room for staff to view, which helps with identification and we train our staff to be observant but safe while working for us.

We are in an area that is constantly challenged by retail crime and do have our fair share of losses, but by being proactive and not dismissing crime as “one of those things” I’m confident that the overall impact on our business and sanity is managed well.

That gives us the motivation to stay strong and keep fighting.