Thursday 9th May 2024

Sussex Alerts - Sussex Police Supports Shop Kind week

Shop Kind week 2024

No one should be abused just for doing their job.

Abuse and violence towards shopworkers is a bigger problem than many people think, with the 2021 Crime Report from the Association of Convenience Stores showing that at least 400 shopworkers across the UK are abused every day.

During the Shop Kind week of awareness, we have been out and about across town centres, and local shopping areas, speaking to staff and workers around supporting retail workers and helping to prevent retail violence.

Our aim during the week is to help improve reporting, catch prolific offenders, and work even more closely with businesses to improve their overall security.

'ShopKind', a national campaign funded by the Home Office to help tackle the rise in verbal abuse and physical attacks on shopworkers, urges the public to be mindful of retail workers' essential role, and emphasises that we should all treat workers and customers with respect, kindness and gratitude.

We support this campaign encouraging the reporting of incidents in the retail sector, alongside our operational activity.

If you have been the victim of a crime as an individual, like a threat or an assault, you can make a Victim Impact Statement detailing how it has affected you. This also applies if it occurs whilst you were at work or in the course of employment, for example as a shopworker.

A business can provide an Impact Statement for Business (ISB). This is an opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on your business such as direct financial loss, as well as wider impacts, for example operational disruption or reputational damage. The court will take the statement into account when determining sentence.

All businesses and enterprises (including charities but excluding public sector bodies), of any size may make an ISB.

Find out more on the above reporting and statements; including support and reporting channels on our Sussex Police website here.

Click, Call, Connect

For non-emergency incidents or crime prevention advice, click www.sussex.police.uk,  (If you report a crime online, we will assess it in the same way as a 101 call).

Call 101 when you don’t require an urgent response. 

In an emergency when life is threatened or there is immediate danger always call 999.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired, you can contact us using TypeTalk on 18000 or by sending a text to 65999.