Category Archives: Retail Security

New store security guidelines welcomed by FRL Retail Security Services

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Retail security company, FRL Retail Security Services, welcomed The British Retail Consortium (BRC) new best practice guide for retail employers, which aims to increase awareness of the impact that violence against staff has on employees and to challenge the perception that abuse of shop workers is acceptable. The guidelines called ‘Tackling Violence Against Staff’ are endorsed by trade union Usdaw. These include having clear policies against violence and abuse, robust store based risk assessments, appropriate store layout, security and preventative measures, good staff training and reporting procedures and providing support for staff after incidents.

Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear campaign against violence and abuse of shop workers was launched ten years ago and has sought to raise the profile of the issue with employers, Government, police and others. While there have been significant breakthroughs in key areas to help prevent and reduce incidents, the Union’s last survey conducted in 2010 still showed that in the previous 12 months, 6 per cent of retail staff had been subjected to violent attack, 37pc had been threatened with harm and 70pc had suffered verbal abuse.

British Retail Consortium Head of Crime, Catherine Bowen, said: “Retailers invest considerable resources in protecting their workers, stock and property. Protecting staff from violence means taking many factors into account, from the positioning of in-store CCTV to how those who do carry out attacks are prosecuted. Companies are doing a lot to prevent trouble occurring in the first place, for example by giving customer service staff training in how to avoid conflict.”

“Our new guidelines will help businesses be sure they’ve done all they can to prevent staff from being attacked or abused. The question that remains is whether the police and criminal justice system are doing all within their power to protect the country’s three million retail employees. Those who are violent or threatening towards our staff are as guilty of a crime as anyone who behaves that way on the street. The police response needs to reflect that.”

John Hicks of FRL Retail Security Services (a specialist division of Facilities Resource Limited – www.frl-group.co.uk) said: “Threats and verbal abuse of retail staff, as well as theft and robbery, are on the increase and we welcome the guidelines which will also serve to highlight the issues involved. It is no longer just a case of reviewing shop and retail cctv systems, how you tackle shoplifters or address the rise in shoplifting. ”

The BRC’s ten-page ‘Tackling Violence Against Staff – Best Practice Guidelines for Retailers’ is available online.

 

BRC Retail Crime Survey 2011: crime costs soar to £1.4 billion

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FRL Group

BRC Retail Crime Survey 2011: crime costs soar to £1.4 billion

The overall cost of retail crime has soared by 31% to £1.4 billion as the sector is increasingly targeted by serious, organised criminals reports Facilities Resource Limited (FRL Group Retail Security www.facilitiesresource.com) whose Retail Security division supply security guards and retail security systems for shopping centres, shops, stores, retail parks and garden centres

The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC’s) Retail Crime Survey 2011, shows fewer incidents for many types of crime but each incident on average has been more costly and so total losses have increased sharply compared with the previous year.

Expenditure on crime prevention by retailers taking part in the survey rose by 1.4% to £214 million, a median spend of £700,000 per company. This has substantially reduced incidents of opportunistic crime against stores, but combating the rise in violent crime retailers and their staff are exposed to requires the support of law makers and enforcers.

The report shows that the overall cost of retail crime has soared by 31% to £1.4 billion as the sector is increasingly targeted by serious, organised criminals. This figure includes the value of goods stolen and damage done combined with the money retailers spend on preventing and tackling crime.

The number of robberies has also increased by 20%: the average cost per incident is up 17% from £847 to £989.

Most worryingly, increases in the use of weapons and physical violence have also been reported.

Other key findings from the survey are as follows:

•More than 35,000 retail workers suffered from physical attacks, verbal abuse and anti-social behaviour during the course of the year, excluding staff affected by the August riots. There were 26 incidents per 1,000 employees last year, an increase of 83% on 2009-2010. The rise is partly attributed to staff being encouraged to report all threats and incidents of verbal assault.

•For the retailers in the BRC survey the August riots had an impact on more than 20,000 retail staff, representing 1.5% of retail employees. 56% of retailers affected by the riots also reported a negative impact on sales in the immediate aftermath of the disturbances.

•The estimated total value of goods stolen by customers across the whole sector was over £147 million, up £10 million on the previous year. Customer theft accounted for nearly 60% of the cost of crime for the retailers in the BRC survey. The number of customer thefts is between 1.5 and 2 million a year, more than one every minute. The number of incidents fell by 19% compared with the previous year, but losses still rose as costs per incident went up 21% to £85.50 (from £70.44 in 2009-2010).

•The number of burglaries per 100 stores was down 42%, but the cost per incident rose sharply by 83%. The average value of goods taken in a burglary was more than £2,000.

How CCTV can add a new dimension to Retail Security

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Here, John Hicks of FRL Group (Facilities Resource Limited) discusses how CCTV can add a new dimension to Retail Security

As an addition to retail security guards, the ‘front line’ of security, customer care and goodwill in retail establishments, CCTV is an essential tool as both a deterrent, to shoplifters and thieving staff, and for providing evidence for prosecution.

However, when CCTV technology is integrated with the retailer’s POS-data or other physical security systems such as Access Control, it can really help you prevent fraud and reduce shrinkage.

New systems on the market can fully integrate with existing security systems and send automatic alerts, to allow managers to identify problem situations or suspicious activities happening within, or immediately outside, the store or warehouse.

Video and associated data can be accessed from anywhere across a network. So the retail environment can be monitored and managed, and issues investigated, locally or remotely – even on a manager’s mobile phone.

Integrating POS data into a CCTV system could provide the video associated with any suspicious transaction, so you can:

  • Combat employee and customer fraud
  • Reveal mismatches in transactions
  • Identify sweet-hearting and other fraudulent
    transactions

Integrated IP CCTV solutions can feature video analytics and can integrate with any physical security application (Access Control, RFID, EAS) to help managers:

  • Detect loitering, access tampering and equipment
    removal
  • Detect unauthorised movement of RFID and EAS
    tagged products
  • Check video against card swipe for identity
    match in protected areas

Want to know more? Then visit the FRL Group website: www.frl-group.co.uk for more details or drop us an e-mail at info@frl-group.co.uk.

FRL Group Retail Security supplies SIA-registered retail security guards for stores, shopping centres and other retail premises in London and across the south of England – protecting staff and assets whilst maintaining high standards of customer care.

UK CCTV Installation & Maintenance, another specialist division of FRL Group, offers CCTV surveillance cameras installation and maintenance to protect property and people in London, Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire and the south of England.

FRL Group is a trading name of Facilities Resource Limited.