Searching for or dealing with knives, or rather their carriers, does not only apply to schools.
As Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said: “We must stop problems in the wider community passing through the school gate.” In other words, knife-carriers in schools by day are equally travelling on the bus from school, or walking the shopping mall. Mike Schuck, the former Met Police man is now the chief executive of Action Against Business Crime (AABC). Sitting with him on the second floor of offices around the corner from Westminster – AABC is based at the British Retail Consortium – there’s a reception you sign into and then an access-controlled door. So it feels far from the madding crowd. But in another way, not so. London mayor Ken Livingstone in 2005 made bus and tram travel free for under 16s. His aim; to boost public transport use. In April the Tory leader of Bromley Council Stephen Carr wrote to Mr Livingstone, claiming that drivers now operate a non-confrontational policy as their best line of defence, because it is unsafe and unreasonable to to tackle bad behaviour. While there many be a party-political side to that criticism, claims remain that anti-social behaviour has got worse since free travel – not the first well-meaning social inclusion measure to have unintended fear of crime consequences. <br><br>But to return to Mike Schuck. What if a retail or other security officer is injured by someone detained; does the injured person have a case against the security company for not equipping or training the officer properly? "Conversely, if a person being detained by a security officer suffers injury at the hands of that officer, this may lead to questions as to what training in safe restraint and detention was given to prevent unnecessary injury."
Mike Schuck argues that violence and aggression in retailing and in society generally is increasing and people now show less respect for service providers – retailers, transport operators, pub and club staff, hospital and surgery staff amongst others. So there is an increasing responsibility on employers to assess the risks of violence and provide appropriate training to staff who may have to deal with such incidents. Mike says: "I think there are emerging issues which affect security providers. If it is felt that a security guard is expected to deal with violent incidents, then it would be reasonable to expect that person to receive training (and equipment) to allow that to take place with the minimum risk of injury to either party."
But even if the main task of a security guard is customer reassurance, equipping that person with handcuffs or a stab-proof vest is still not a substitute for appropriate training in their use.
While he suggests that it’s simplistic to say that what happens in the United States then happens here, the recent spate of knife murders committed by young people and the new powers for teachers to search school pupils for knives is an indication of the growing seriousness of violence faced by retailers here. There have been incidents where shoplifters have been peacefully detained, only to become violent as the wait for police lengthens. In response to this, some supermarkets provide secure rooms to detain suspects safely until police arrive. Proposals in a recent Home Office consultation paper could see police-staffed detention facilities built into large stores or shopping centres where there is enough room. This may help, he adds, to reduce the problem of retailers having to make a decision to release a detained person rather than risk a violent incident.
