Northamptonshire's crime commissioner backs Co-op ‘zero tolerance’ policy over attacks on staff

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold is backing the Co-op's zero tolerance policy over staff being abused during the Covid-19 crisis.

We revealed recently how Co-op workers had been threatened because stores had run out of products and spat at while marshalling queues into stores.

One irate customer punched a protective plastic screen after being told he could not buy a lottery ticket.

The retailer, which operates dozens of stores across Northamptonshire — many in villages and local communities — pledged to keep staff and customers safe, saying any type of crime from burglaries to violence and aggression towards staff will not be tolerated.

Mr Mold said: “I firmly believe that a vibrant retail sector is essential to meet the needs of local communities.

“I particularly support the stance that we should not tolerate use of or threats of verbal or physical violence against retail workers.

“These staff work hard to provide a service to local people and such acts need to be treated in the same way and with the same veracity, as would such an act against other essential front-line workers.

"Here, the Northamptonshire Business Crime Partnership works closely with over 600 retail businesses to deter and tackle those that commit retail crime in the county and beyond and I will continue to support them both financially and through the direct support of a senior member of staff from my office."

Co-op's loss prevention manager Craig Goldie said: "We want to reiterate our plea to treat our colleagues with care, compassion and respect as they work around the clock for our communities. We want people to think long and hard about the person wearing our uniform – they will be someone’s mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, grandma or grandfather.

“We want people to ask themselves whether they would like their relatives to be confronted by someone in a violent or aggressive way. The answer is no and therefore why should our colleagues or anyone who works in retail have to face this kind of behaviour.”

The Society has long campaigned for the Government to change legislation so shop workers are afforded greater protection in carrying out those public duties and today are saying more needs to be done now to protect these critical workers and to curb a potential crime epidemic.

Nationally, assaults on shop staff have jumped by 100 per cent and incidents of verbal abuse by 175 per cent since the start of the year.