There has been an upsurge in shoplifting and anti-social behaviour across the country, particularly in the last two years, the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment heard this morning.
The Committee heard from a number of shop owners, including the owner of Spar on Dublin’s Talbot Street, and the Head of Musgrave Group, Ireland’s largest grocery distributor.
On behalf of the Convenient Stores and Newsagents Association, (CSNA), CEO Vincent Jennings told the Committee that shoplifting had reached “pandemic levels.”
The CEO of the largest independent body of convenience store retailers and newsagents in Ireland pointed out that shoplifting was “not a victimless” crime, telling the parliamentary Committee that not only retailers were impacted, but that customers and staff were also affected.
Mr Jennings said that shoplifting had played a large part in reducing choice for communities, and also had long-term physically and mentally debilitating effects on shop owners, managers, and retail staff.
“Shoplifting, using the words that a superintendent used at a recent briefing attended by not just myself but others present this morning, has reached pandemic levels,” he said, adding, “In some ways it was gratifying to hear this acceptance of the level of problem we’re experiencing across the retail sector.”
Mr Jennings said that the invitation before the Committee was further evidence that shoplifting had become “a growing problem” which needs further attention. He said that the most worrying aspects of shoplifting today are the “accompanying threats, the actual violence, the obscenities, the misogyny, and the vile racist abuse levelled at owners and staff.”
“There is no doubt that these abuses are increasing year in year, and have, most certainly, become more pronounced post Covid,” Mr Jennings said, as he described those responsible as “thugs.”
He said staff members were being “assaulted and abused just for doing their jobs,” as he described what was being experienced as “terrors.”
Mr Jennings said it was his view that extra legislation was not required, but insisted that “we do need better service from our Gardai, and those charged with responsibility for managing young offenders.”
He also called on court services and the Irish judicial system to “pay attention to the trauma occasioned against the victims of these crimes,” and to ensure that restitution was not only awarded but enforced.
He said that shopkeepers were aware that those involved in shoplifting progressed to more serious crimes, and were calling on all reports of juvenile shoplifting to become the subject of a mandatory referral by the investigating garda to the child agency, Tusla.
He referenced a small number of individuals stealing on a regular basis, as he called on a scheme similar to the one implemented by the PSNI in Belfast to be put in place in the Republic.
‘DETERIORATION IN SERVICE FROM GARDAI’
He said it must be accepted that staff were providing an essential service, and were deserving of protection.
He also noted a “deterioration in service from the Gardai in recent years” – adding that shopkeepers were frequently being provided with a lack of resources and personnel as an explanation for slow, and in some cases, no responses to calls for assistance.
He said comments made by members of the force included, “Why don’t you get your own security?” as well as “Take it up with Drew Harris,” or “Take it up with your politicians.”
Meanwhile, Tara Buckley, CEO of Retail Grocery Dairy and Allied Traders Association, which represents over 3,500 family-owned food retailers across Ireland, said it was no exaggeration to state that there had been “an explosion” in crimes against retailers in recent years.
“Our members report that incidents of crime, fraud, abuse, theft, and shoplifting happen every day in their stores.”
She described perpetrators as serial shoplifters who rob particular shops several times a month,“gangs of feral youth” who she said were “completely out of control and believe they are untouchable, and can abuse who they want and steal whatever they want with no consequences,” and organised gangs who arrive into towns “like a plague of locusts” and rob to order.
She said physical and verbal assaults had also been inflicted on staff, adding that there was “only so much” retailers could take. Ms Buckley said it was often the case that retailers feared theft in their stores was not being taken seriously because the items stolen were low-value. However, she said, if a retailer was robbed on a daily basis, it “adds up very quickly.”
Ms Buckley said that members of the association reported that retail theft costs them at least €40,000 per store over the course of a year in loss of goods, repair of fixtures and fittings, and security and CCTV costs.
That amount can be much higher, she added, for retailers in areas where crime is more prevalent, as she pointed out that overall, shoplifting was costing the retail sector in Ireland €1.6 billion, adding that costs were increasing each year.
She said some common themes were emerging from retailers, including a lack of gardai visibility on our main shopping streets. She said that while most members believed that their local gardai were doing their best in extremely difficult circumstances, and had “sympathy” for the gardai, she said that the association had received complaints from its members about the lack of response from the gardai to calls and complaints from retailers.
“There are accounts I can give you of retailers who called the gardai to assist when a crime had been committed, but where the response was exceptionally slow.”
“This was most graphically illustrated recently,” she said, “When on the morning after the riots in Dublin, one of my members went in to open his store in the centre of Dublin at 5:30am. Within minutes, he was threatened by a group of youths, and he called the gardai in Store Street – and got no response.”
She continued, “A short time later, another group of youths came to the shop, and he was so concerned for his safety that he pressed the panic button. Again, no response.”
“There are clearly persistent issues regarding the availability of garda,” she said, adding, “These issues need to be addressed urgently.”
She said responsibility lay with the Justice Minister and Gardai management, who should be ensuring Gardai are adequately resourced.
Ms Buckley said one of the biggest frustrations for retailers was that the court system did not appear to take retail crime seriously. She said that retailers were hugely frustrated that after spending time and effort preparing a legal case, it was often the outcome that the perpetrator was given the probation act, or let out on bail by the judge.
“Quite often, our members say they’ve arrived in court, presented their case, and the shoplifter’s let out, and is back in their shop robbing before they even have time to get back to the shop,” she added.
She said members also believed there was a real absence of a deterrent for offenders, adding that many members reported repeat offenders returning to rob their store shortly after having been caught.
The Committee also heard from Ms Buckley that there was “a persistent problem with youths,” some of whom were minors, but who have “very engrained criminal habits.”
“The deterrent needs to match the crime and be applied consistently by the courts,” Ms Buckley said. “We would like to see zero tolerance of retail crime and abuse against retail staff and owners, and custodial sentences for serial offenders.”
She said that physical risk was a serious issue, with some staff and owners having been “hit, kicked, beaten, spat at, stabbed with knives and syringes, and shot at” in the course of their work, adding that personal risk was at a level that meant shop owners were questioning the wisdom of continuing to expose themselves to the risk. She said it was also hard for owners to recruit and retain staff in such environments.
She referred to one member, a businessman with a number of convenience stores in Limerick, who was considering giving his staff bodycams and stab-proof vests, and had spent over €250,000 on retail costs, shrinkage and security costs linked to theft.
CRIME ‘AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH’
Meanwhile, Julie Dorel, head of Communications at Irish food wholesaler Musgrave Group, which supplies Supervalu, Centra and Daybreak, told the Committee that the operating environment within the retail sector had changed in the last number of years. Ms Dorel said that “worryingly, in particular, over the last two years, the level of crime, violence, and anti-social behaviour towards staff are at an all-time high.”
She said retailers were experiencing three types of crime: organised gangs, opportunistic criminals, and an “alarming rise” in underage youths who “get a kick out of intimidating staff,” and who are “totally lacking in fear” – given there are “little or no repercussions” for their actions.
She said that while shoplifting sounded like an innocuous word, retail is a low-margin business, and stock walking out the door on a daily basis had a serious impact on weekly retail profit.
More than that, she said, there was an impact on staff who were being threatened and abused, causing concern for retailers. She said retailers daily told the organisation about an “upsurge” in theft and anti-social behaviour, and the debilitating effect it was having on staff and owners. She said there could be 1,000 incidents a week being reported across their network, which she said “mainly go unreported.” She said while retailers were encouraged to report, many considered it an investment in time, for little outcome.
She told the Committee there was a “significant rise” in underage theft, referencing “fearlessness” from perpetrators and “abusive behaviour” from youth.
Mr Noel Dunne, a Centra retailer in Dublin, said he was currently dealing with 2-3 incidents a day at his store daily – sometimes more.
YOUNG SHOPLIFTERS ‘COMPLETELY BRAZEN’
Mr Dunne said he witnessed petty thieving and some organised gangs, but that the biggest rise was underage 14-16-year-olds on electric scooters, who he said pulled up outside, entered the store in gangs, and they ran out. He described the teenagers as being “completely brazen” and “aloof to any law or wrongdoing.”
He pointed out that underage perpetrators know, and pointed out that “they can’t be touched,” and say things like, “You can’t put your hands on me” before running out the door with the product.
“They’re right. In the present situation, we can’t,” Mr Dunne added. “So they run out the door with the product, and that’s it.”
He said that “at the very least”, the loss in his store amounted to €25,000 per year for stock alone. He pointed out that he also has CCTV cameras in the store and a security guard employed for 25 hours per week.
“Altogether, it costs me about 65,000 to 70,000 euros a year before we put a light on – just to protect the stock, knowing full well that 20 to 30 grand of it is going to go out the door anyway, at the least,” Mr Dunne added.
The retailer said his ask was for a deterrent. “There is no deterrent,” he told the Committee. He said it was the case that perpetrators had the opinion that carrying out theft was “easy” and that if they did end up in court, there would be no repercussions – saying that they often received “a slap on the wrist’ and would return to committing crime.
Another retailer, Mr Michael O’Driscoll, who owns a Spar on Talbot Street in the city centre, said he had 5-10 incidents a day where he would have to challenge people stealing in his store.
“What I find very upsetting now is the aggression of people now,” he told the committee.
“There seems to be a terrible anger in society in terms of 20, 30 year olds robbing a drink. You ask for the drink back, and they won’t give it back to you. They want to fight you for it. They walk out, they push their way out. They have no fear now because there is no deterrent – nothing happens to anybody anymore,” he said.
In terms of going to court, he said perpetrators were not afraid, adding, “There’s a new level of aggression.”
Mr O’Driscoll said that his staff were mainly foreign staff, and that he was concerned for them because those committing crime had “no respect” for them at all. “They think they shouldn’t be here, so therefore I have to deal with most of these incidents myself,” he said.
He said a delay in bringing people to courts was another factor. Mr O’Driscoll also said there were not enough garda on the street to deal with the situation.
“There has to be some sort of punishment no matter how small the crime is,” he told the Committee.
Retailers also expressed concern about self-scanning checkouts, which they said had contributed to a rise in stealing. It comes as a number of supermarkets in Northern England announced they were removing the scanners, due to a loss of stock.