ESSEX Police have noticed a rise in assaults on shop staff as 14 people have been arrested in Southend and Basildon.

The force says that retail workers “go to work to help their customers, not to be assaulted”.

In the last two weeks, nine people in Southend, five in Basildon, 15 in Colchester, 12 in Chelmsford; eight arrests Thurrock, six in Harlow, and three in Tendring have been arrested on suspicion of assaulting retail workers.

Essex Police officers have secured 14 assault charges against 11 people arrested on suspicion of assaulting retail workers in the past fortnight.

Sgt Christian Denning, of the Essex Police business crime team, said: “No-one goes to work expecting to be assaulted but, nationally, we are seeing a rise in assaults on shop staff.

“We don’t tolerate any type of assault and, through our Open For Business, Closed For Crime campaign, we encourage retailers to report assaults and anti-social behaviour to us, as well as thefts, so we can take action.

“We will work hard to obtain charges where we have the evidence to build a case.

“And our specialist business crime officers provide retail chains and individual stores with specific crime prevention advice to help keep their staff safe and their premises secure.

“Staff should feel safe when they are at work and customers should feel safe when they are shopping.

“You can report any crime or anti-social behaviour online or by ringing our non-emergency number 101.

“If you want to report in confidence, contact Crimestoppers. Of course, if it’s a crime in progress, always ring 999.”

Of the 58 people arrested on suspicion of shop theft in Essex between April 1 and 14, 2024, 40 people have been charged with a total of 114 counts of shop theft.

And, of those, 11 have additionally been charged with a total of 14 assaults on shop staff.

Since 1 January, our officers have made a total of 454 arrests for shop theft across the county.

A spokesman for Essex Police added: “Our business crime officers review every arrest for shop theft and identify opportunities to apply to the courts for criminal behaviour orders to be imposed on prolific offenders, banning them from stores they target persistently.”