A wave of antisocial and violent behaviour in theatres, cinemas, shops and even hospitals is putting staff at risk and fearing for their safety. With many offences appearing on social media soon after they occur, there are claims that some acts of disruption and violence are deliberately sparked in a bid to create viral videos. Incidents at theatres this year include riot police in Manchester being called to a performance of The Bodyguard, police in London removing audience members from a West End performance of Grease, and Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell show being brought to a standstill at the Peacock Theatre by a man hurling abuse at fellow theatregoers. Theatre staff report being kicked, punched and choked, as well as suffering sexual assault and racial abuse while going about their work. At the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, a trial of clinical staff wearing body cameras is being extended as a growing number of the emergency services adopt the same tactic. And in the retail sector, where shoplifting and acts of abuse and violence against staff have reached record highs, a growing number of stores are offering body cameras to workers as well as further security measures. Tesco chief executive, Ken Murphy, says physical assaults have risen by a third in a year and the company has invested £44m on increased security, including door access systems, protection screens and digital radios.
Dame Sharon White, chair of the John Lewis Partnership, told a recent BBC Today programme that shoplifting has become an “epidemic”, with offences doubling over the past twelve months. She said it was “not right” that shop workers were “having to put up with abuse and attacks” and that some areas had become “shells of their former selves” due to violent attacks and repeat offenders “causing havoc” in shops. The abuse, violence and rampant shoplifting are not restricted to the large chains. A worker at a convenience store in Wolverhampton told the BBC’s World at One that shoplifters can strike “two or three times a day” and she often sees people “swipe a whole shelf of stuff”.
