Central England Co-op reinforces zero tolerance crime campaign after security guard threatened with a knife in Birmingham

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 23/10/2020


Central England Co-op has reaffirmed its campaign calling for better protection for colleagues after a security guard was threatened with a knife after confronting a shoplifter.

The retailer is reinforcing its message that violence and aggression towards staff will ‘not be tolerated’ after an innocent security guard was confronted by a man with a knife after stopping another person from shoplifting at the Dyas Road food store on Thursday night.

Thankfully, the security guard was not injured and Central England Co-op is now supporting police with their investigation.

Craig Goldie, Loss Prevention Manager, said: “Everyone at Central England Co-op has been shocked and appalled at this unacceptable incident in Birmingham.

“Luckily, the security guard was not injured and we are offering full support to the guard and the entire store team and working closely with the local police force to bring the criminals responsible to justice.

“We strongly condemn any form of abuse of violence towards our colleagues who are just doing their job.

“These types of incidents reinforce our ongoing campaign calling for better protection for shopworkers and highlights our zero tolerance policy on all types of crime aimed at our colleagues and customers.

“Once again, we are sending a clear message out to anyone who might consider targeting our colleagues and stores – it is not worth the risk and no crime will be tolerated.”

This comes just days after the retailer issued its ‘not worth the risk’ warning to criminals as part of an ongoing campaign to keep colleagues and customers safe as the nights draw in and Covid-19 restrictions continue .

The coming months will see Central England Co-op increasing a range of different measures in stores including; expanding a service it uses that allows colleagues, at the touch of the button, to call for assistance, and putting tracking devices in more products to deter would-be thieves.

This will sit alongside a recently launched trial of body worn cameras which, if successful, could be rolled out across all stores.

The campaign comes on the back of new figures which have revealed that, in Central England Co-op stores this year, verbal abuse has risen by 205%, threats and intimidation by 122% and assaults by 47%.

It can also be revealed that the retailer has recorded a total of 232 crimes related directly to covid-19.

 

Notes to editors

 

About Central England Co-operative

 

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral, travel and property investment.

 

Co-operatives have always been there for their communities; they were formed to protect them and help them flourish. 

 

Our 7,900 colleagues who serve Members and customers work hard to ensure that co-operative values, principles and spirit flow through everything we do to help support and improve our local communities.

 

Owned by hundreds of thousands of Members, we have over 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. 

 

We are proud of our reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.

 

We invest a percentage of our trading profit into local communities through our Community Dividend Fund scheme, have donated over £1.3 million to our corporate charity partner Dementia UK and also operate a pioneering food redistribution partnership with FareShare Midlands so unsold food goes to those in need.

 

Visit www.centralengland.coop for more information or follow us on Facebook or Twitter using @mycoopfood

 

 

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

 

Phone - 01543 421390

 

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop