The relationship between police and independent food and drink retailers seems to be improving, with officers now more likely to take follow-up action after attending violent incidents in-store, according to the 2010 Violence Survey carried out by Independent Retail News.
The survey shows there has been a dramatic improvement in police reaction to violent retail crime, with 61% of retailers saying they were visited by police and follow-up action was taken after an incident, up from just 26% last year.
More cases are ending in convictions, up from 10% in 2009 to 17% in 2010.
The number of retailers being visited by police with no follow-up action fell from 39% to 22% over the year.
Police action to tackle anti-social behaviour and violent crime seems to be improving, with 19% of retailers saying it was “much better” in 2010 and 26% saying it was “better”, compared with 12% and 25% respectively last year.
The research shows 78% of retailers now always report incidents of violent attack to the police, up from 68% in 2009. Only 9% said they used to report incidents but do not do so now.
But less than one-third (30%) of independent retailers are in contact with their local crime and disorder reduction partnerships, compared with 38% in 2009.
Independent retailers believe the problems of violence and anti-social behaviour are getting worse. More than half (52%) of retailers surveyed said the problems were getting worse and 41% said they had suffered stress as a result of violent crime or yobbish behaviour.
Over the past year, 7% of retailers said they had been a victim of violent crime, compared with 8% in 2009. Robbery (39%) is the most common form of violent crime, up from 25% last year, but the use of a weapon fell from 21% in 2009 to 8% in 2010 and physical assault declined from 12% to 3%. Incidents of verbal abuse fell from 35% to 23% over the year. However, there were increased incidents of intimidation (18% of cases) and harassment (10%).
Despite worries over violence, only 4% of retailers are now considering giving up their businesses because of crime, down from 13% last year.
