Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 80
Require Chief Constables to improve monitoring, recording, and response to violence against shopworkers.
Recommendation
Chief Constables must do much more to demonstrate that they recognise the human cost of escalating violence and abuse against shopworkers. They need to ensure they have proper systems in place for monitoring and recording. Most importantly, they need to ensure that officers are not underestimating the seriousness of these crimes because they take place on business or retail premises. All forces should review the response priority given to these kinds of crimes in line with the new Government guidance to make sure they are taking it seriously enough. All forces should conduct an assessment of the level and patterns of violence and abuse against shop workers in their areas, and identify a lead officer to work with local businesses and local authorities in partnership on reducing crime.
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the current lack of mandatory recording for business crime and violence against shop staff due to data system challenges. It states that victims must report violence accurately and that existing sentencing guidelines already treat offenses against public-facing workers as an aggravating factor, but does not commit to the recommended actions for Chief Constables.
Paragraph Reference:
80
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
It is a serious problem that police forces could not even tell us the scale of reported assaults against shopworkers because they do not currently record the data in a way that allows it to be measured, nor do they keep effective records regarding retail or business crime. ... There is no mandatory recording process for business crime, or for violence and abuse toward shop staff. Some forces do seek to identify such crimes by asking staff and officers involved in managing crime reports to add a marker to the relevant record. However, it is known there are concerns about data quality where a system relies on an individual remembering to tick all the relevant boxes on a crime record. Further, making apparently simple changes to force IT systems can be challenging given forces use different record management systems. The Home Office Counting Rules (HOCR) for police recorded crime currently allows the identification of shoplifting and robbery of business property of which the latter includes the use or threat of force of violence to attempt to steal property. We will work with the National Business Crime Centre (NBCC) to consider options to add more granularity. Before such changes are made, consultation with the police service will be needed to assess the possible administrative burden on forces of making a change against the added value such granularity can bring. When violence has been used or someone has been physically or verbally threatened, the victim or their employer must report this fact first and foremost to police, and not report it as a shop theft. The Government agrees with HASC that this is not an issue of financial loss; and as heard in the evidence submitted to the Committee, where someone has been assaulted the police will assess the risk and vulnerability of the victim and respond accordingly. It is therefore crucial the information provided to police accurately reflects what the victim has experienced. In addition, courts have a statutory duty to follow sentencing guidelines, which are clear that the fact an offence has been committed against those working in the public sector or providing a service to the public should be treated as an aggravating factor during sentencing, meriting an increased sentence.