One incident every five minutes: Retail crisis laid bare as police vow to stymie ‘unacceptable’ crime rate

Victorian retail workers are dealing with a crime every five minutes as the state grapples with an “alarming” crime crisis that shows no signs of getting better.

Supermarket giant Coles is leading a push by retailers for the ability to ban serial offenders from stores, and immediate reforms to adequately punish criminals who assault their workers.

Data released by the Crime Statistics Agency on Thursday shows that crime across the state increased by more than 15 per cent in the year ending June 30, an increase of 86,587 recorded offences.

Four of the five fastest-growing crimes are theft: stealing from cars, theft of cars, shoplifting and broader robbery offences. The fifth-highest crime was family violence.

“We’re seeing a criminal offence at least once every five minutes in a retail setting, an assault every couple of hours and cases of aggravated robbery and weapon-related offences daily or more,” said Australian Retailers Association boss Chris Rodwell.

“While this reported data is alarming, the sad reality is it underestimates the true figure, as so much retail crime still goes unreported.”

The association is among those warning retail crime will continue to escalate in Victoria without urgent intervention.

Retailers want a dedicated police taskforce and streamlined online reporting. Workplace protection orders, which bar repeat offenders from stores, have been rolled out in the ACT, with a 99.6 per cent success rate at Woolworths supermarkets.

Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill conceded crime in Victoria had jumped to “unacceptable” levels, propelled by soaring rates of theft and repeat youth offenders.

He said police were working on new approaches to deter crime, and set an ambitious target to reduce serious and violent crime by 5 per cent each year.

The target is part of a broader reshuffle of the force by new police chief Mike Bush, who also wants to focus on boosting confidence in the police and putting back-of-house officers back on the beat.

“As a society, we simply cannot allow the level of crime we are seeing to become normalised and accepted – every Victorian deserves to feel safe in their home, within the community and on the roads,” Hill said.

The Age shadowed retail workers at Coles in Prahran over four hours last week, and witnessed seven incidents, including a man who tried to make off with $180 worth of baby formula, a woman who ate hot chicken in the store, and a man who face-planted into a packaged birthday cake.

Thursday’s crime statistics reveal thefts from retail stores have increased by almost 42 per cent. More than 20,400 incidents were recorded in the year to June 30, highlighting the ongoing crisis of abuse, violence, theft and knife crime faced by retail workers.

Hill said half of those caught shoplifting were first-time offenders, which suggested cost-of-living pressures could be at play. Organised crime networks and illicit drug use were also part of the “perfect storm” fuelling rising crime rates.

Retail union boss Michael Donovan said Premier Jacinta Allan had promised tougher penalties for violence and abuse directed at workers, but those on the “front line of Victoria’s crime crisis” were still waiting for reforms now promised by year’s end.

“If the government can move quickly to legislate bans on machetes, it can and should act just as quickly to deliver the long-promised protections for retail and fast-food workers,” Donovan said.

A Coles spokesman said it had “never been more critical” for the state government to take decisive action on retail crime.

Despite having more stores in NSW, the supermarket chain is experiencing 40 per cent more retail crime incidents at its Victorian stores.

“Despite record levels of investment in a range of safety and security measures in our Victorian stores, it is disappointing that our team and customers are still faced with unacceptable levels of abuse and threatening behaviour fuelled by organised crime – with no sign of things getting better,” a Coles spokesman said.

The crime statistics also reveal the rate of aggravated home burglaries remains stubbornly high, climbing from 6454 to 7850 home invasions in the 12 months to the end of June.

Home invasions, robberies and car theft remain the crime of choice for repeat and violent young offenders.

Police said they had arrested 654 offenders a combined 1700 times in the past year as part of Operation Trinity, a dedicated nighttime operation targeting aggravated burglaries and car theft.

Hill said the disconnect caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns, social media use and a “gang mentality” had caused a shift in behaviour among youths.

“It’s certainly something that wasn’t evident in my early policing career,” he said.

“This escalation [in behaviour] goes from zero to 100 for some of the people we’re arresting for these violent offences.”

Knife crime is also a major concern after the fatal ambush of 12-year-old Chol Achiek and 15-year-old Dau Akueng in Cobblebank earlier this month.

According to police intelligence, officers have seized almost 11,000 edged weapons in the year to the end of August.

The Crime Statistics Agency figures contain the first batch of bail statistics compiled by the agency, with 4300 charges relating to breaches of bail in the reporting period, although it is too early to see the impact of recent amendments to bail laws.

“This initial set of bail statistics collated from multiple agencies is a first step to helping us better understand the impacts of bail or remand decisions on an alleged offender’s pathway through the criminal justice system and further offending,” chief statistician Fiona Dowsley said.

The number of people being held on remand by the police has also increased from an average of 60 earlier in the year to more than 240.

Police Minister Anthony Carbines expressed confidence that a hardening of the state’s bail laws would “ultimately have an effect” on the crime rate but was unable to say when it would come down.

“There are too many victims at this time, there is a crime level that is unacceptable to Victoria police, to the government and to me,” he said.

“Victorian Police and the government are focused on pulling up the crime rate as soon as we canbut part of that is making sure we have the tools to do the job, that we have laws in place that are having an effect, and then some long-term strategic work that Victoria Police know they need to do.

“There’s no quick fix here.”

Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin accused the government of failing “every step of the way” to tackle the escalating crime crisis.

“We need to start implementing legislation as soon as possible to get these criminals off the street,” he said.

“We need real consequences for serious crimes in the state.”

The opposition leader has already pledged that, if elected next year, a Coalition government would introduce Jack’s Law to allow police to search people for knives, and a tougher policy on breaching bail to combat Victoria’s record crime rates.

“People don’t deserve a second chance when they’re committing violent crimes in our state, and serious consequences for violent crimes all the way across Victoria is the only way to keep Victorians safe,” Battin said.

Family violence incidents increased by almost 8 per cent in the past 12 months, with 106,427 incidents recorded across the state. Last year alone, Victoria Police arrested 8635 family violence offenders a combined 16,148 times.

But while the rates of incidents soared, fewer intervention orders were made, charges decreased and unsolved cases also increased. Only 24 per cent of incidents recorded in the past 12 months resulted in charges being laid.

Family Violence Command Acting Assistant Commissioner Sharon McKinnon said the high number of unsolved cases was due to ongoing investigations, which were anticipated to be resolved “in the ensuing months”.

Our Watch chief executive Patty Kinnersly said the “disturbing figures” served as a reminder that violence against women was a national crisis in Australia. She noted the data came as Victoria Police prepared for a 20 per cent increase in domestic assaults on AFL grand final day.

With Hannah Hammoud and Carla Jaeger