Frontline Tesco workers will be offered body cameras following an “unacceptable” spike in verbal and physical attacks.
The supermarket’s chief executive Ken Murphy said the move to protect its “unsung heroes” was prompted by a rise in physical assaults by a third compared with this time last year.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Mr Murphy said those responsible are “small in number, but have a disproportionate impact” on staff.
Tesco has invested £44m in four years on security measures including door access systems, protection screens and digital radios, as well as the cameras, Mr Murphy said.
“Money spent on making sure people are safe at work is always well spent,” he said.
“But it should not have to be like this. Crime is a scourge on society and an insult to shoppers and retail workers.”
Saying it is “time we put an end to it”, the retail boss labelled the rise in incidents as “unacceptable” and condemned the impact on workers.
Tesco CEO Ken Murphy wants abuse towards retail workers to be made an offence
He called for a change in the law to make abuse or violence towards retail workers an offence across the UK, saying “we cannot go on like this”.
“I want those who break the law in our stores brought to book,” he said.
“After a long campaign by retailers and the union Usdaw, last year the government made attacking shop workers an aggravating factor in convictions – meaning offenders should get longer sentences.
“Judges should make use of this power. But we need to go further, as in Scotland, and make abuse or violence towards retail workers an offence in itself.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The Competition and Markets Authority has told supermarkets that they need to make their pricing clearer, or risk enforcement action
Mr Murphy also called for better links with police forces and for businesses to be given a right to know how a case is proceeding when someone commits a crime in one of their stores.
“This would help us to spot patterns and provide reassurance that justice is being done,” he said.
Tesco joins Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Co-op, which two years ago all began offering body cameras to staff over fears for their safety.
The figures reflect findings by trade association the British Retail Consortium published in March. It found attacks on staff, including racial and sexual abuse, physical assault, and threats with weapons, increased to over 850 incidents a day – almost double the pre-COVID levels of 450 a day.
Last summer, 100 retail chiefs wrote to 41 Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales, urging them to make crime in retail a priority in local policing strategies.