Retailers have a key role to play in fighting crime, home secretary David Blunkett told shopworkers union Usdaw this week as he promoted two schemes to help tackle assaults on staff and other retail crime.

Speaking at the Usdaw conference in Blackpool, Blunkett urged all retailers to encourage staff to volunteer to become special constables following pilot schemes in London and Norfolk.

“Everyone has a responsibility in the fight against crime,” he said, “not just the police and the government. I would urge that employers, workers and unions learn from and embrace these innovative special constable schemes.”

Blunkett advocated the Shop Watch project being piloted by the Metropolitan Police and Dixons stores in London. Under the scheme, employees who volunteer for the specials are supported with fully paid leave to attend police training and will also receive additional leave for
spending time on patrol. The other scheme is the STEP initiative in Norfolk, where employers provide eight hours’ additional leave per month for special constables.

The home secretary also paid tribute to Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear campaign, which aims to reduce the number of physical assaults, threats of violence and verbal abuse towards shopworkers.

Official figures put the number of incidents at over one million since 1995, but these only reflect reported incidents
and it is thought the true level of abuse is much higher.

Usdaw will carry out a survey in May to establish more accurate statistics, and will announce the results at National Respect for Shopworkers Week running from July 5-11.

John Hannett, Usdaw general secretary elect, said: “The survey will give us a clear idea of the real scale of this disturbing problem. Retail crime is often recorded in financial terms without mention of the victims. Too many shopworkers go to work in fear of being assaulted.”
Maja Pawinska