Grocers say they're seen as fair game by thieving customers and staff, and are demanding change. Helen Gregory reports Shoplifting is a bit of a joke in the eyes of many people. The word hardly fits the crime (who actually lifts shops?) and it conjures up images of kids nicking sweets after school or the celebrity pilloried in the press for stuffing sausages down his trousers. It's an offence that many believe is not taken seriously, even by the police, and many, usually honest, citizens conspire in the thriving grocery black market by buying knocked off hauls of bacon and coffee as a harmless way of keeping their weekly shopping bills down. But for many retailers, this harmless "Del Boy" scenario is wearing thin. Estimates vary, but it is thought that between 1%-2.5% of grocery stores' turnover is lost to thieves. A recent ECR Europe report even reckoned that European food retailers and their suppliers were losing 50 million euro a day. Of the incidences which were reported ­ which are only a percentage of the total ­ the latest British Retail Consortium crime figures reveal that thieves struck 5,280 times for every 100 grocery stores in the past year. Arising from those incidents 2,610 suspects were detained by the stores and 1,370 handed over to the police. Thieves grew more violent last year, with 60 out of every 100 food and drink outlets reporting staff being attacked, along with 146 threats of violence. Robbery was a real problem in grocery stores with thugs attacking eight in every 100. Small shops were particularly susceptible and the figure rose to one in 10. In fact, shop theft and violent crime is a bigger threat to many small stores' survival than competition from the major chains. Many independent stores now wonder if it's worth the hassle of challenging habitual thieves and risking abuse or assault. In addition, an under-resourced police force is often slow to respond to calls for help and negligible sentences are imposed by magistrates if the offender actually gets to court, which many hardened criminals see merely as an occupational hazard. Jonathan Clarke owns two Spar stores in Timperley and Gatley, Manchester, and has expensive security equipment. But he says lack of police support means most thieves know they won't be prosecuted even if they get caught on camera. "We can have someone threatening the cashier as we're on the phone to the police reporting the crime," he says despairingly. "It's not unusual for them to send an officer round 24 hours later." Clarke is disheartened by the increase in crime and says only security guards on the door would have an impact ­ something he can't afford. He reckons on at least three or four thefts a day, says he's losing 1% of his turnover to shop thieves and that staff morale is being dragged down. "I'm starting to think, Is it worth it?' The whole thing is becoming a nightmare ­ I certainly wouldn't come into the retail business now." The pressure to make sales leads many stores to make a trade off between merchandising attractively and making stores safe. Criminologists would recommend that they put the expensive items out of the way and the cheaper ones on display, but this is usually greeted with dismay by store owners who want to show their best stock. Companies such as Nedap Security are springing up everywhere, sticking tags on high value items such as batteries and spirits. It estimates that up to 10% of products are now tagged in supermarkets. It is even linking the panels (or antennae) up to the internet, working out how often the alarms go off, as well as when and where, in a bid to clamp down on thieves. But its head of retail sales, Mark Owen, says stores often use this new technology while letting traditional security slide. "Some staff think they're a nuisance and ignore them, while others think they don't need to keep a look out for suspicious people any more." He predicts a dramatic shift in the kinds of items stolen from supermarkets as the stores stock more expensive health and beauty products. Owen believes tags deter a lot of would-be thieves but admits there are ways round some systems ­ using foil lined coats and bags for example ­ although he insists Nedap systems alert stores when foil is being used and that its 6ft plus range would pick up products hidden in the caps of all but the tallest basketball player. "Supermarkets are more concerned with making things look nice in order to get more sales, but there's a compromise that needs to be reached ­ aggressive merchandising leaves you more open to theft." Gillette is one of the companies championing intelligent tagging - which can identify packs with a personal ID. Colin Peacock, Gillette's customer development for onshelf availability, says stolen products mean a loss in sales but that defensive merchandising - putting products behind glass - puts shoppers off. He says retailers and manufacturers need to work together to identify the processes from factory to shelf, which pose most risk. "It could be a case of putting a security check on the back door to prevent theft by lorry drivers." However the Danish Bacon & Meat Council takes a light-hearted view of thieves' love of bacon. A spokesman laughs: "We think it's a wonderful tribute to the product." Stan Sinclair, Somerfield's loss prevention controller, believes the problem is going to get worse. He puts it down to drug use among thieves and the fact that the public is willing to buy stolen gear. Somerfield does not continually monitor its CCTV and only uses it to back up crimes spotted in store. Sinclair is also sceptical about the "cure-all" image of tagging. "You can only get someone if you see them take something without intending to pay for it and then walk through the alarm system. If you just hear the alarm go off you can only tell them that the product hasn't been de-tagged and take them back into the store." The chain also relies on guarding and staff vigilance but Sinclair hopes that technology coming on line ­ such as computer chips in trolleys which can signal when it hasn't been through the checkout, and a system called text overlay, which marries up CCTV with till transactions to spot an unusual number of refunds or voids ­ will start to make more of an impact. Tesco refuses to discuss any of its security measures because it is frightened that it could, inadvertently, release information that would make it easier for thieves to steal, or send out the wrong signal. And Sainsbury group security manager David Tucker says only that the chain has improved its rate of catching culprits and that, although the cost of staff theft is a big one for Sainsbury ­ collusion plays a big part - the problem is not increasing but being contained. Many retailers take part in the civil loss recovery scheme run by Retail Loss Prevention, whereby those known to have stolen are issued with a notice of civil recovery from the store manager and expected to pay compensation ranging from £60 to several thousand pounds, irrespective of whether the case is going to court. Last month retailers announced they would tackle the problem of travelling thieves with the new Business Information Crime System whereby local retail crime partnerships from 35 towns and seven police forces will link up in September and pool data, pictures, video footage and intelligence on thieves in their area. Some chains are even more hands on. The United Norwest Co-op has three four-man teams which spend time with stores which are being particularly victimised by thieves and go through the paperwork and provide a "reassuring presence". They are also used in a rapid response role, attending scenes of crime and working with community police officers. The teams have proved so successful that they are now recruiting three more. Meanwhile, in Leeds, the Leeds Co-op, Yorkshire Co-operatives, Day and Night, Jackson's and T&S Stores have joined up to offer a £10,000 reward to catch robbers. However, better security in the multiples means that many thieves now view their corner shop as a soft touch. A spokesman for the Association of Convenience Stores says that the more effective the multiples' attempts at security are, the worse the problem gets for independent stores. "It's a kind of displacement ­ the criminals know that it's easier to steal from stores with more lax security." The ACS is calling on the government to bring in 100% first year tax relief on security investment in small stores because small stores simply write off losses rather than fork out on expensive security measures. But while customers are making off with an average of £48 per theft, thieving staff are getting away with a staggering £456 a time. In food and drink stores, there were five known incidents of staff thefts per 1,000 employees last year, and although the BRC insists the problem is under control, it is clearly an intrinsic one for retailers. Fraud is another major problem, with culprits aided and abetted by friends on the "outside" who smuggle the goods out. Another common wheeze among staff is "forgetting" to scan items at the till, which is why products such as razor blades are often out of stock ­ the store's automatic ordering system is not activated if bar codes aren't scanned. Nedap's Owen says that staff theft is much more prevalent than customer theft in supermarkets. "They can steal more and collude with family and friends and it's not uncommon for them to steal up to £1,000 a week. The emphasis should be on internal theft ­ looking at the back door rather than the front. There's too much trust." The company is working on a system in the US which records unusual till activity, such as a high number of refunds, small customer spend or low hourly throughput. And rival firm Sensormatic has developed a system that works out if goods are being keyed in at a lower price than they should and even take a photograph of the cashier and a copy of the till receipt at the same time. Somerfield's Sinclair says it prides itself on trying to deter staff rather than spending excessive time catching them, and that its confidential Speak Up line ­ on which staff can "grass" on light-fingered colleagues ­ has proved successful. One area manager for another chain says he once caught an employee who had stolen £500 worth of videos by ringing them through the till at 99p rather than £9.99. "I've heard of people putting their hands over the barcode reader when their friends are at the till, to give them the stuff free. "I'm quite sure that the employees work out how to beat the system and then pass on notes to each other." Staff theft is acknowledged as a growing problem by the ACS, but one which it says could be partly addressed by better recruitment processes and reference checking. It also points to the whole part-time/low wage culture, coupled with socio-economic trends in more deprived areas which could be in part to blame. Its spokesman admits: "Some people, especially part timers, feel undervalued by the store because they don't get benefits, or believe they don't get paid enough, and staff morale can be low when they don't feel involved." He adds that the increase could be put down to the fact that many retailers had not previously considered that their staff could be stealing and are only now cottoning on. Many feel a big emotional wrench when they find out. "But for some, working with money is too much of a temptation ," he says. Security consultant Don Williams who was Tesco's director of security for eight years, has years of experience in the industry and says shoplifters' punishment doesn't fit the crime. He reckons a short, sharp shock, such as a few weeks in prison, would be a deterrent. "The modern shop thief steals to order. It's a business transaction to them and they're often very arrogant." Williams recalls one manager who was stealing £1,000 worth of goods a week and received only a suspended jail sentence. He agrees that although tagging is effective it is often not backed up by staff training. He says staff theft is often a result of taking untried people straight from school, and putting them in a store culture where they learn techniques from each other. William also believes that regeneration schemes, such as those launched by Tesco and Sainsbury, leads to staff recruitment from an area with a high level of criminality. Joshua Bamfield, director of the centre for retail research, says the thieves' grapevine is often more effective than the stores'. "On average people are taught to steal after three weeks ­ it's part of the initiation." But the most thieves will get is a small fine, a conditional discharge or community service. But Bamfield says he is not convinced that a prison service is the answer. "People committed crimes even when there was flogging and hanging." - For more on retail crime and violence see page 39 and Retail Spotlight on pages 42-44 {{COVER FEATURE }}