blueish swede
Well-Known Member
There are many things amiss with British society, but surely true celebrity is the one thing that transcends class.
I work in retail( though not in shops now) but I spent 12 years on the shop floor and let me tell you when your shop gets "rushed" it's fucking scary.No idea based on what I've seen or head whether this was a proportionate response to a specific threat, so I thought I'd have a look online to try and understand the background better. Couldn't find much clear or compelling information out there either way.
Turns out there's a C4 documentary on tonight about organised shoplifting gangs, might provide some insight into who is or isn't behind what seems to be a bit of an epidemic.
I work in retail( though not in shops now) but I spent 12 years on the shop floor and let me tell you when your shop gets "rushed" it's fucking scary.
You're totally outnumbered and you don't know if confrontation will lead to violence and trust me you are not paid well enough to have a fight. These gangs of group of people are well organised and will keep hitting you if they think you're an easy target.
Now ultimately what they steal isn't yours however it does have a detrimental effect on prices as hundreds of millions of pounds are stolen every year and the knock on effect is that you the customer have to pay more. I fucking despise these people. Companies spend millions on security but it's not enough
The risk shoplifters take is worth it as very rarely if they get caught they'll probably just get a fine
There was an organised shop lifting gang in Manchester in the 80's.You have my complete sympathy, I can well believe it's very scary. There's a lot of coverage that it's a fairly 'consequence free' crime at the moment, I think the Coop said earlier in the year that 70% of people they detain they let go because the police don't rock up or something mad like that?
That's why I thought I'd watch the thing tonight as it's seems very much like organised crime and will be good to understand who is behind it and what if anything is being done about it.
It's a little more complex than simply determining whether one piece of legislation supersedes another. In short, the Equality Act 2010 does not provide immunity from prosecution for criminal behavior. If an individual is suspected of committing a crime, they can be prosecuted regardless of their protected characteristic (in this case, race). For example, if someone with a protected characteristic commits theft or assault, they can be prosecuted like anyone else.
While the Equality Act protects against discrimination, it does not prevent lawful prosecution. Where it becomes difficult for the police and the judiciary is when arrest or prosecution is challenged as being predicated on discriminatory motives. While I'm not privy to the details of this case, I'd like to think the police acted on prior intelligence about the motives of the group in question and were, therefore, confident that their actions were not liable to be challenged as discriminatory under the EA 2010.
I,certainly, agree with the outcome of this situation, but it does leave this action open to a lawsuit.
It's determining on an outcome before it's happened. Personally, I think based on past activities, it was the right call, but would a court support the police on 'future crime' when the future hasn't happened.
I guess being judged on "probability" isn't the best way to go but, for me, correct in this situation.
Makes me think of "The Minority Report" and how far things can go.