A National Day of Action to Protect Retail Staff from Violence in association with #ShopKind
Lauched in Birmingham Bullring, Friday 11th February 2022, but campaign running nationwide
Strike up a conversation with your family, friends and neighbours. to discuss #shopkind. It can never be right to abuse shop workers so learn more about this important national campaign.
A national day of action was launched on 11th February 2022 in Birmingham as retailers urged shoppers to #ShopKind when they visit high streets and shopping centres. Polling shows that over one-third of shoppers (38 per cent) have witnessed violence and abuse against shopworkers.
Retailers, policing and private security will be coming together to host a number of collaborative ‘days of action’, in association with #ShopKind, urging the public to be mindful of shop workers’ essential role in serving the public. The ‘days of action’ are intended to be high visibility events, showing a united front, emphasising that workers should be treated with respect, kindness and gratitude.
The launch was at the Bullring, Birmingham, from 11th to 12th February 2022, where visitors found out more about the campaign when they meet with the organisers, who included Crimestoppers, the Police National Business Crime Centre (NBCC), National Association of Business Crime Partnerships (NABCP) and other organisations. This will be followed by a series of further launch events in other regional centres in 2022, yet to be announced.
Minister for Crime, Policing and Probation Kit Malthouse said:
“What would possess anyone to threaten or assault shop workers is beyond me. It’s truly awful and we should not stand for it. I want this national day of action to send a clear message to customers that they must treat shopworkers properly. We have more police on our streets, and they should work with businesses to keep our communities safe and our high streets thriving.”
#ShopKind is supported by major high street retailers as well as the Association of Convenience Stores and the shopworkers’ union Usdaw. The campaign is now visible across high streets and on social media. The Association of Convenience Stores’ 2021 Crime Report shows that over the previous year there were over 1.2 million incidents of verbal abuse and around 40,000 incidents of violence against people working in convenience stores. Of these, more than a quarter involved a weapon, such as a knife, hammer, axe, or syringe.
Mark Hallas, Chief Executive at national charity Crimestoppers, said: “Our high streets play a pivotal role in our communities across the country. Please help us stamp out abuse and if you know who is responsible but want to stay anonymous, tell our charity what you know. Call freephone 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org Together, we can help protect our shops and shop workers from harm.”
Retailers are also encouraged to review their security provisions for the protection of staff, says Darren Conway, chairman of the National Days of Action Steering Group: “There are a range of effective countermeasures available to retail, leisure and other locations to deter threats to staff, whether from criminal gangs or in random, isolated incidents. Only by working collaboratively and as a community will we be able to fully support our teams on the front line. We are urging all businesses and the public to get behind the days of action and #ShopKind.”
Further information:
Local Business Contact: www.gripcic.co.uk Contact for the Public: Crimestoppers
In conjunction with this campaign, local Policing teams in North East Lincolnshire are visiting shop keepers and talking to shoppers today (11th Feb 2022).