As footfall increases, with shoppers buying their Christmas goods and the reintroduction of face masks in shops in order to tackle the Omicron variant, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is reminding the public to consider their behaviour and be kind to shop workers this Christmas, as the Force reaffirms its commitment to the national #ShopKind campaign.
At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, a survey among retail workers revealed that one in six were verbally abused on a daily basis, with frustrations stemming from the COVID restrictions often being the trigger for aggression from customers. However, there has been a long-term trend of increasing levels of abuse towards retail workers, with the number of workers experiencing verbal abuse increasing from just over half, to more than two thirds between 2017–2019.
In response to the concerns raised by retail workers, last month GMP revealed its new Retail Action Plan, which sets out how the Force will raise the standard of service it delivers to local retail businesses across Greater Manchester. The plan includes a new pilot scheme which aims to make reporting to the police easier for retailers in order to tackle the underreporting of these incidents and allow the Force to build a bigger picture of repeat offenders or offender locations. It also includes a strategy for a greater police presence in these repeatedly targeted locations and work that will be done with the newly established Retail Crime Steering Group, made of large and small retailers, victim services, the Community Safety Partnership and GMCA, to provide support to retail businesses and assist them with steps they can take to help protect themselves from crime.
GMP’s Superintendent Ben Ewart, said: “The festive season can put increased pressure on many industries, in particular our retail workers. Many of these workers have played an essential role within our communities during the pandemic, and I would like to remind the public to remain polite and respectful to these workers as they are shopping this Christmas.
“Retail workers are merely trying to carry out their job and ensure that everyone can shop safely as we continue to navigate our way through the pandemic, and no-one should have to do that it an abusive environment. Thankfully, I do believe that the vast majority of people treat shop staff with respect, however in those cases where staff are abused, either physically or verbally, the impact can be long-lasting.
“I hope that the action taken as part of GMP’s Retail Action Plan sends two clear messages – to our retail workers, that they can be confident in reporting incidents to us and that appropriate action will be taken and to the minority who commit retail crime, such as abuse towards workers and shoplifting, that GMP will not be accepting this type of behaviour in Greater Manchester.”
