Following the publication of the results from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) Retail Crime Survey 2010, the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) urges retailers to up their game in the fight against retail crime by improving their in-store security and seeking advice from reputable security companies.
Following the publication of the results from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) Retail Crime Survey 2010, the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) urges retailers to up their game in the fight against retail crime by improving their in-store security and seeking advice from reputable security companies.
The survey results show that the total value of goods stolen by customers has increased to US$210 million in 2010. This comes in spite of an 11-percent reduction in the overall number of offences that have taken place at the expense of retailers in the past year, and a reported increase in investments made by retailers to secure premises. This means more needs to be done by law authorities to reduce the impact of retail crime and that full use of the potential of in-store security measures such as surveillance, manned guarding and access control must be made.
Security breaches bear a great cost to retailers, who, in addition to suffering financial losses, have to deal with business interruptions and unplanned downtime as well as staff left shaken and distressed by the experience. James Kelly, Chief Executive of the BSIA, the trade association for the private security industry in the U.K., commented on these results: "In the retail environment, security measures are powerful in deterring criminals from attacking premises, ensuring immediate police response and facilitating the conviction of offenders, by providing the force with hard evidence. The fact that the survey shows a reduction in the number of offences from 2009 means that the increased investments made by retailers to secure their businesses in the last year is starting to make a difference in lessening the impact of this type of crime. However it is alarming to discover that there has been an increase in the total value of the goods stolen."
"As the first step towards improving these figures, we urge all retailers to protect their premises, goods, staff and customers by seeking expert advice and improving their in-store security by turning to reliable suppliers. Surveillance equipment, manned guarding and access control systems such as item tags have time and again proven invaluable in deterring criminals and responding to offences, but to get the most out of these systems they must be properly installed and monitored,” Kelly said.