Pilots and Projects Tackling Substance Misuse as a Driver of Violence and Abuse

The National Retail Crime Steering Group established a Task and Finish Group to explore the role drugs and alcohol play in driving violence and abuse towards shop workers. The group collated examples of research, pilots and projects, that are working to tackle this issue. This section shares more information on the issue, this work and how retailers can work alongside their Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to drive down violence and abuse against shop workers.

The Problem

Violence and abuse affects many shopworkers each year causing physical and mental injury 

Levels of violence and abuse towards shop workers have been rising steadily year on year. The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that in the year to March 2020 there were 688,000 incidents of violence experienced at work by adults in employment. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) estimated that 450 incidents of violence happened every day in shops in 2020 which align with estimates of the problem. 

This violence and abuse brings with it significant financial costs to businesses with the BRC estimating its members spend £1.2 billion on measures to protect staff and prevent crime while the Association of Convenience Stores estimate its members spent £5,239 per store. The Association of Convenience stores have also estimated the total cost of crime for their sector at £100m equates to 9p per customer transaction. 

Violence and abuse can leave shopworkers with lasting physical and mental injury. Industry surveys have shown that attacks often include racist, misogynist, and homophobic abuse and attacks with weapons such as knives, syringes and hammers on the increase.

For further information refer to: 

‘It’s not part of the job’- Dr Emmeline Taylor Report 

Breaking the cycle: Effective Sentencing and Offender management for Retail Offenders 

Prolific offenders are responsible for 70% of violence, abuse and theft in shops 

It is estimated that prolific offenders are behind 70% of shop theft and these individuals are increasingly resorting to violence and abuse directed at shop staff. 

The Home Affairs Select Committee highlighted the issue of prolific offenders in its report on shopworker violence and abuse. 

Katy Bourne, Sussex’s Police and Crime Commissioner has sponsored a trial in Brighton between the Co-op and Sussex Constabulary which has targeted prolific offenders and as a result, incidents of violence and abuse in those stores have reduced. 

Refer to section 3 ‘How to get involved’ for further information.

Prolific offenders are often driven by the need to feed a substance misuse problem 

The Centre for Social Justice carried out in-depth research on this issue and their findings outlined in the ‘Desperate for A Fix’ report demonstrate that what very often drives such prolific offending is issues of substance abuse and addiction. The report concluded: “With 70 per cent of shop theft attributed to frequent users of heroin, crack cocaine and powdered cocaine, it is evident that the potential for dramatic reductions in crime could come from a reconsideration of the response to these offenders, designed to tackle their addiction and to help offenders move into recovery and lead drug- and crime-free lives.” (Desperate for a Fix, P.17) 

The ACS Crime Report 2022 and a separate report, ‘Breaking the Cycle’ by Dr Emmeline Taylor, also found that drug and alcohol addiction were the main motivators for prolific offending. Many offenders Dr Taylor interviewed made this clear: 

A big proportion of my offences are shoplifting, all to fund my drug addiction. I’ve been to prison 35 to 40 times. There is no help and no real rehabilitation in prison. I needed a sentence to stop the drug use - residential rehab or a treatment centre - a sentence that focuses on solving the addiction problem.

This section seeks to show how organisations are approaching the inter-related issues of prolific offending and substance abuse by providing support to those involved, through rehabilitation projects and working with partner agencies.


Rehabilitation courses have proven to be successful in permanently changing behaviours 

Offender to Rehab Programme: 

PC Stuart Toogood in West Midlands Police has been a police officer for 25 years and regularly saw the same individuals committing crime in shops with drugs, alcohol or other substances the primary cause for their behaviour. 

PC Toogood saw that while custodial sentences stopped the behaviour and kept shopworkers safe for a period, the offenders resumed their habit on leaving prison which meant they began again to target shops impacting the shopworkers in them. 

The Offender to Rehab programme that PC Toogood has developed is proven to permanently prevent violence and abuse towards shopworkers by resolving the underlying addiction issues. 

Caroline and Jamie’s stories: 

Jamie and Caroline have spent over 20 years each in heroin/crack cocaine addiction and both have been to prison numerous times. Both committed crimes to fund their addictions - predominately retail theft. Both would use at least £1,000 a week on drugs and would have stolen around £3,000 from retailers to fund this. 

Jamie and Caroline were unable to control their addiction in the community as it was too severe. The usual drug and alcohol support services available were not effective for them. 

The Offender to Rehab programme helped these individuals who have now attended rehab and seen amazing results. 

Jamie is 12 months into recovery and starting as a trainee support worker at Livingstone House Rehab. Caroline is now 3 years into her recovery and also works as a support worker at Livingstone House. 

Unfortunately, this programme will not work for everyone. However, both Jamie and Caroline are clear examples of how rehabilitation treatment can work.

 

Many of these schemes have been supported through additional funding from retailers 

For example, PC Toogood’s Offender to Rehab programme has been supported throughout by a range of local retailers who recognised that aside from helping those in need, supporting the programme would ultimately stop the abuse and violence their colleagues face.

Project ADDER: 

Through Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) we are trail-blazing a whole-system response to combatting drug misuse. Over the lifespan of the programme, we aim to reduce drug-related deaths, drug-related offending and prevalence of drug use in each of the project sites. 

As a joint Home Office, Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) programme, we have already committed to date a total of £59m investment (from 20/21 – 22/23) and through the Government drug strategy entitled ‘Hope over Harm’, we have committed to extending Project ADDER for two more years until 2025. Learning from this programme continues to inform the implementation of the Government’s 10-year Drug Strategy. 

The programme focuses on coordinated law enforcement activity, alongside expanded diversionary programmes (such as Out of Court Disposal Orders) and treatment/recovery provisions, including housing and employment support. 

The first ADDER locations were launched in January 2021 in some of the areas hardest hit in England and Wales. These are Blackpool, Hastings, Middlesbrough, Norwich and Swansea Bay. Building on this approach, the Government expanded the programme in April 2021, to include Bristol, Newcastle, Wakefield, two London Boroughs (Tower Hamlets and Hackney) and three local authorities in Liverpool City Region (Liverpool City, Knowsley, Wirral). 

Project ADDER is a pathfinder programme, underpinned by a robust monitoring and evaluation framework, including an independent evaluation by Kantar Public, building the evidence base to inform optimal national delivery with the full report due in Autumn 2023.

By supporting these schemes retailers can help tackle the underlying causes of crime and violence in their stores 

These schemes are examples of effective partnerships between retailers, the police and charities and of what can be achieved when these organisations come together to address the problem, helping individuals and keeping communities safe. 

The map below shows lots of other examples right across the UK of what can be done and where retailers, government, and policing are supporting community efforts to tackle the problem of substance abuse. 

You can reach out to your Police Crime and Commissioners office (PCC) for further information on how to get involved with local programmes. Please refer to the contact information provided in the map.

This toolkit signposts to guidance and advice for retailers whose stores are being targeted by prolific offenders with addiction issues, including what to do in store, how to work with the police and how to work with the community. 

Download the toolkit here.