I want to write about changing the narrative on retail crime. For so long now the message from ACS and many other organisations has been about the rise in the number of incidents, their severity, and the impact this is having on businesses and the people who run and work in them. This is all 100% true, and we should never stop telling the story about retail crime because the situation is simply wrong and unacceptable. As we take part in Respect for Shopworkers Week and Safer Business Week, I find myself wondering whether this will always be the story, or whether we can start to write a different one.  

Early next year the ACS Crime Report 2026 will be published, and we’re encouraging retailers to share their experiences through our survey.  Sadly, I can already anticipate some of the results we’ll get: verbal abuse will remain a common experience for most retailers, and instances of theft will likely be in a similar range as the 6.2 million incidents recorded  in our 2025 report, a far higher number than the police recorded figures. A good chunk of those offences will have been committed by persistent repeat offenders, and a significant number of crimes committed in convenience stores will have involved a weapon or a threat to use a weapon. While we hope we’ll see some easing of the current levels of crime, the reality suggests that progress may still be slow.

So, do we just record the scale of the problem and keep talking about it in the media? Yes, but surely we must also try and improve the situation, and there are some ways we can do that. I’d like more of the conversation to be about how we can do that. Here are some places we could start:  

Reporting

Retailers have lost faith in the police investigating crimes. Reporting can often be seen as time-consuming and ultimately futile. Different forces use different systems, some are pretty effective in capturing CCTV and other evidence, some are cumbersome and manual. Every extra step in the reporting process sees a drop off in the level of intelligence the police can gather on those prolific repeat offenders.  

Who’s responsible for this? Primarily, any police force that lacks an efficient reporting system and fails to provide feedback to the victims. But some forces do have good systems, so should we also look at ourselves? Are we training our colleagues to report every crime? Are instructions not to challenge thieves being misinterpreted as instructions to do nothing at all? Can we help increase reporting rates to better identify offenders?

Technology

I think one of the first places we’ll see AI, machine-learning and other advanced technology make a material difference to our business will be in crime prevention. It’s tough to know exactly what to invest in, and harder still to integrate new systems into business operations and relationships with other stakeholders (see point 1, above). But the amount our sector loses to crime means that (outrageously) the payback on security investment can be quicker than on marketing and sales measures, where the prize is higher sales at whatever margin you can make. Are we investing fast enough to take the battle to the criminals?  

Partnership

Among all of the truly awful stories we hear about crime, we hear some great examples of retailers working with other businesses, the police, and local groups to tackle crime. Initiatives to identify prolific repeat offenders (yes, them again) can slash crime rates. Yes, these rates can increase again when they are released from prison or drop out of recovery programmes, but the respite is worth a great deal and, where you can succeed once, you have a template for future work. There are common threads, but also specific issues unique to local areas. Focus on those, work together, and you CAN make a difference.  

Recovery  

Here’s a good one: someone is making your life and your colleagues’ lives miserable, they’ve probably threatened you, maybe even assaulted you. And now you PAY to help them? It sounds crazy … but it is also one of the most effective ways to stop reoffending and reduce crime rates in your store. To see someone turn their life around, from being a drain on your store and community, to becoming a functioning member of society, is a remarkable thing. It takes a strong and empathetic person to respond to being the victim of crime in this way, but I’ve seen it done. I know that Offender to Recovery programmes can work.  

Not all these options will work for every retailer, but at very least I hope we have established an agenda for tackling crime and changing the narrative. This is a hard road, but is it harder and more depressing than being a victim of crime day after day? Nobody deserves to endure what you as retailers have to face. It’s not acceptable and I want to move the conversation toward how we change that.