Working in partnership with retailers

Last week, Thames Valley PCC, Matthew Barber, attended two events as part of his campaign to tackle retail crime.

On Thursday, 16 November, Matthew met with some of the UK’s biggest retailers at the National Business Crime Service Conference where he also spoke about the work being done to tackle business crime in the Thames Valley.

While on Friday, 17 November, he visited Botley Food Store with The Midcounties Co-operative to mark Respect For Shopworkers week – a national week organised by The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers that aims to encourage shoppers to treat retail workers with kindness and respect.

Matthew said: “Retail crime is not a victimless crime. From the many conversations I have had with retailers both large and small I have become all too aware of the intimidation and abuse shop workers face as well as the fearfulness among staff due to shoplifting.

“It is, therefore, absolutely right that we take a robust approach to tackle this issue and I am grateful to all those I have engaged with over the past few months for sharing their experiences which are helping to shape important work in the Thames Valley.

“I have already announced the procurement of DISC, an online reporting platform to help retailers report and access information about crime which I am making available to retailers across the Thames Valley free of charge. I am also currently working with Thames Valley Police on a Retail Crime Strategy which will deliver a more visible, targeted and robust response to retail crime. Taken together, I hope these measures will have a positive impact for retailers and their staff.”