ACS calls for Increased Police Funding to Focus on Violence in Local Shops and Communities
Posted on in Cycles News , Political News
According to IRC member ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) the government has confirmed that they will increase police funding by more than £1.1 billion for 2020-21, representing the largest funding increase for the police in ten years. Police and Crime Commissioners have also been encouraged to raise additional funding by through an increase in Council Tax to set a higher police precept. The new funding includes the £750 million previously announced by the government last year to support police forces recruit the first 6,000 of the planned 20,000 new police officers.
Government figures released last week have suggested that the police recorded 351,874 shop theft incidents in the retail sector in the year to September 2019, a 3% decrease on the previous year which contradicts industry data and retailers' experience. ACS has called for the new funding to prioritise tackling retail violence, which is often triggered by challenging shop thieves and enforcing age restriction policies.
ACS has called for the police chiefs and the government to make tackling violence a top priority. ACS has also warned that new figures from the Office for National Statistics' annual Crime Survey for England and Wales vastly underestimate the level of shop theft - which is linked to violent incidents.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said:
"The police recorded crime data does not reflect what local shops tells about shop theft and crime they experience in their stores. Shop theft remains prevalent and is the number one trigger for violence and abuse of staff.
"We welcome the Government's rhetoric on being tough on crime and more funding for police forces, but this must now turn into reality, including more police resources into local communities and better funding for the justice system to tackle the root cause of offending."
ACS has produced a short animation video for retailers and their staff, which details ways in which stores can manage and anticipate incidents of violence and abuse, including advice on dealing with shop thieves. The video is available here.