ACS has launched a new animation to help retailers and staff tackle violence and abuse in-store following its report that revealed a shocking spike in crime over the past year.
The animation provides advice to staff on how to stay safe in the workplace and diffuse situations that may lead to violence or abuse.
It encompasses how to deal with shop thieves, what to do in the event of a robbery, how to enforce an age-restricted sales policy and how to identify whether a person is drunk.
It comes after the ACS Crime Report, published on Tuesday, estimated that there were over 13,000 incidents of violence in stores over the past year, predominately triggered by theft.
Shop theft soared by 65% to 950,000 cases, while 12% of retailers said they had experienced an increase in violence and verbal abuse over the course of the past year.
Read more: Murder on the shop floor: battling the rise of in-store crime and violence
More than 9,000 estimated robberies took place in the convenience sector over the past year, with the total cost of crime to retailers escalating to £193m.
“Retailers and their staff are on the front line in stores, enforcing the law and protecting their businesses from theft and other crimes,” said ACS chief executive James Lowman.
“While convenience stores are community hubs and a safe place to work and run a business, unfortunately sometimes violence and abuse against retailers and their staff does occur. We have produced this animation to help guide people working in stores through what they can do to manage these situations.”
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