Tesco workers offered body cameras as violent attacks against staff soar
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The biggest retail company in the UK, Tesco, is giving its employees the option to wear body cameras in order to safeguard themselves against the growing occurrences of severe physical attacks.
The CEO of the company, Ken Murphy, urged for alterations in the legislation to address the deteriorating circumstances. He mentioned that the frequency of attacks on their employees had increased by 33% in just one year.
In the Mail on Sunday, Mr. Murphy suggests that it is necessary to implement a legislation to establish that mistreatment or physical aggression directed towards employees of retail establishments should be recognized as a distinct criminal act throughout the United Kingdom.
He disclosed that over 200 Tesco workers encounter severe physical attacks every month, prompting the company to allocate £44m towards implementing enhanced security measures.
"At Tesco, we have been actively contributing by allocating £44 million over the past four years towards enhancing security measures including door access systems, shielding screens, and digital communication devices," explained Mr. Murphy.
"We have also implemented the use of body-mounted cameras for employees who require them to discourage wrongdoers."
"He stated that investing money in ensuring the safety of individuals in their workplace is always a worthwhile expenditure."
Tesco has chosen to provide its employees with body cameras, a move that mirrors the actions taken by other grocery store chains like Waitrose and Co-op. Sainsbury's had announced in February 2020 that it would introduce body cameras in a select few of its stores.
The numbers presented by Mr. Murphy reflect comparable data released by the British Retail Consortium. In their yearly Crime Survey, which was published in March, they documented 850 occurrences happening each day throughout the United Kingdom during 2021/22, which is a significant increase from the 450 daily incidents observed in 2019/20.
In the blog post, the Tesco CEO expressed his discontent with the current state of affairs, emphasizing that it shouldn't be this way. He regarded crime as a significant problem that not only harms society as a whole but also disrespects both shoppers and employees in the retail industry. The CEO acknowledged that although these individuals causing trouble are relatively few in number, their negative influence is far-reaching and unfair.
Mr. Murphy deemed these occurrences as "unacceptable" and expressed his heartfelt sorrow for the workers affected, urging the government to take decisive action to cease such incidents.
"I desire that individuals who violate the law within our stores are held accountable," he stated.
Following a relentless effort by retailers and the Usdaw union, the government acknowledged the significance of assaulting shop employees by categorizing it as an aggravating aspect in criminal convictions. Therefore, perpetrators ought to receive lengthier imprisonment terms.
Judges ought to utilize this authority. However, it is crucial to take additional steps, similar to what Scotland has done, and establish a specific offense for mistreatment or physical harm inflicted upon individuals working in retail.
He also advocated for stronger connections with law enforcement agencies and requested that businesses be granted the privilege of tracking the progress of a case when a crime occurs within their stores.
"This would enable us to identify trends and offer reassurance that fairness is being upheld," he expressed.
"Criminal groups exploit the lack of sufficient information sharing. It is only through collaboration that we can effectively halt these delinquents."
