'I've had someone drag me across the shop counter'

'I've had someone drag me across the shop counter'

"We've had instances of us being pushed into fixtures and I've had someone drag me across the counter when I have refused to serve them."

Andrew Bond runs the Premier Store in Torquay, Devon, and is among several shopkeepers in the South West who say shoplifting has been a daily issue in recent years.

Devon and Cornwall Police said violence against shopworkers was rising, but new reporting platforms have helped drive a significant increase in shoplifters being brought to justice.

Home Office figures show that only 16% of reported shoplifting crimes led to a charge or summons in Devon and Cornwall in 2022-2023, but Sgt Chris Chaloner said that figure had climbed to 31% since June 2026.

CCTV footage from across the region shows offenders physically attacking shop workers and trying to steal in plain sight.

The police force is working with UK Partners Against Crime (UK-PAC) to create an app retailers can use to log crimes and warn others if a shoplifter is in the area.

Bond said it had worked well in his store.

"It may take 20 minutes to do a 101 report but with this it can take a few seconds to add something so we can record everything," he explained.

He said the problems often got worse in the evenings, as people become more desperate and, at times, intoxicated.

"We see our business as an extension of our home so it feels like people are invading our home when they are stealing from you," he added.

The force is working with UK Partners Against Crime (UK-PAC), which has developed an app retailers can use to record crimes.

A national survey of almost 9,000 retail staff by the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers found that more than three-quarters had experienced verbal abuse.

Two-thirds of respondents said the incidents of violence, threats and abuse they had faced were sparked by shop theft or armed robbery.

The UK-PAC app is being introduced to cities, towns and communities across Devon and Cornwall.

In Penzance, Cornwall, when an alert is issued that a shoplifter is in the area, shop owners and staff stand outside their stores to stop them entering their premises.

Rachel Gunderson, who owns The Honey Pot cafe in Penzance, said it had helped her recover two expensive items stolen from nearby stores from a shoplifter who had come into her premises.

"I sat down, had a quiet conversation with her and I said, 'I think you might have been to a couple of my friends' shops and taken some things without paying for them. They've reported it to the police but if you give the stock back to me or pay for it in full, then they're not going to take it any further'."

Sgt Chaloner said it was vital for police to catch the offenders.

"We know people who are committing shoplifting or shop theft will go on to commit other types of crimes such as serious violence and burglaries," he said

Previously, a large share of shoplifting offences were being closed because police were not getting the CCTV images and statements needed to move the investigation forward, he said.

The new platforms, such as the UK-PAC one, let retailers report crimes directly to police along with CCTV statements.

"This allows us to take quicker, swifter action against those prolific offenders and ultimately means they won't commit as much crime in the future," Sgt Chaloner added.

Stephen Manners, from UK-PAC, said that in the three months to September 2026, the app had reported 855 incidents to Devon and Cornwall Police.

In Exeter, retailers are given handheld radios by Exeter Business Against Crime to report incidents to the CCTV control room, which has 314 cameras positioned around the city.

Damien Curphey, store manager of Urban Outfitters, said shoplifting happened every day.

"If we feel like we're being threatened we contact control and they can send some PCSOs over and they can monitor over CCTV where that person goes once they've left the store," he said.