Channel 5 Program – Retail Crime

SGF was recently asked to participate in a Channel 5 program called ‘Shoplifters and Scammers: At War with the law’. SGF Chief Executive Dr Pete Cheema OBE and Head of Policy and Public Affairs Dr John Lee were asked to contribute to an episode specifically in relation to retail crime and the recent Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021. The episode aired on Thursday 20th January. Pete Cheema spoke about his direct experiences of retail crime and strongly emphasised that the new Act was a much needed and highly relevant piece of legislation.

John Lee said: “We know that our members have been threatened by weapons, blades, knives and machetes. The impact of retail crime can be vey serious.” He later went to add that “Unfortunately, it looks like the pandemic has made things worse. Obviously, staff have had to take things much more slowly within store and this has led to a lot of frustration among some customers and unfortunately, that’s translated into abuse directed at staff. We know that facemasks have encouraged a small minority of customers to believe that they are immune from both identification and prosecution.”