A dangerous new shoplifting tactic known as 'swarming' is emerging, and experts say it is putting young retail workers at risk. The trend involves large groups of hooded teenagers descending on bottle shops, supermarkets and electronics stores, overwhelming staff before fleeing with stolen goods.
Experts warn of growing trend
Former New South Wales Detective Superintendent Robert Critchlow told Sunrise on Monday the tactic has become increasingly common and is being fuelled by social media attention. 'It's been around for a little while, but it's getting bigger and bigger. I think it's driven by social media. People like to film their exploits and we're hearing more about it,' he said.
Retail workers say they are being left frightened and vulnerable, with many instructed not to intervene. 'This is not a victimless crime. In terms of these sorts of incidents, it really does scar the workers, and more needs to be done to prevent this,' NSW Retail Union Secretary Bernie Smith told Sunrise.
Impact on young workers
The trend is particularly alarming in bottle shops, where many frontline employees are teenagers or young adults working their first jobs. Smith, who began his working life in bottle shops three decades ago, said workers were increasingly being forced into impossible situations. 'When these people come in, they've got a choice to make. They're just meant to let them go, which then encourages more people to come in. But if you do stand in the way, it's very dangerous because people wield a bottle against you and it's a very serious consequence.'
He stressed retail staff should never be expected to physically confront thieves. 'We saw a seasoned police officer get seriously injured just last week trying to stop an offender. So we don't encourage our members to get in the way of these offenders,' he said.
Understaffing and security concerns
Smith said chronic understaffing, a lack of security guards and store layouts that make it easy for offenders to enter and exit quickly were leaving retailers exposed. Critchlow warned many of the offenders involved were children or teenagers, raising questions about whether existing laws were acting as an effective deterrent. 'Some of these crimes are very serious. They're actually robberies. They're not just larcenies. When someone uses a weapon to avoid apprehension, or they're in groups and causing terror, it's really, really serious offending,' he said.
He said while the Young Offenders Act was designed to educate young people about the consequences of offending without saddling them with lifelong criminal records, some offenders were taking advantage of the system. Critchlow urged parents to take greater responsibility for their children's behaviours, arguing early intervention was critical to preventing repeat offending.
Retailers and governments respond
As incidents increase, some retailers have resorted to locking their doors between customers or introducing additional security measures to reduce the risk of coordinated thefts. Governments are also beginning to target the online culture surrounding the crimes, with some states moving to crack down on social media posts that glorify shoplifting and encourage copycat offending.
