Incident renews calls for stronger protections for retail employees
An Auckland hobby shop worker was stabbed on Thursday after trying to stop youths who were allegedly stealing Pokémon cards in Newmarket, renewing calls to introduce stronger protections for retail employees.
The police said the employee sustained a "moderate stab wound" and was discharged from Auckland Hospital, where he had been taken, 1News reported.
According to the police, the employee was stabbed after attempting to chase three young males who fled the hobby store after allegedly shoplifting.
"An employee from the store pursued this group, managing to stop one of these males on Nuffield St when a knife was produced," detective senior sergeant Matt Bunce said.
Security personnel from Newmarket Security arrived shortly after the stabbing, restraining a 16-year-old and disarming him before police reached the scene.
"The other two young males were tracked to nearby Newmarket Train Station and were apprehended," Bunce added.
The 16-year-old is scheduled to appear in the Auckland Youth Court on 26 January charged with aggravated wounding and shoplifting, according to reports. The other two boys, both aged 13, were spoken to by police and will be referred to Youth Aid.
No hard feelings
Meanwhile, the injured employee told 1News that he did not feel negative towards the young men, and urged young people to "play Pokémon, not knives."
"I just hope the kids learnt their lesson early so they can change their life path," he said.
But his employer lamented the expected outcome of the incident and called for stronger protections for retail workers.
"It'll be a slap on the wrist – an absolute travesty from our justice system. We'd love to see the government put in more protections for retail workers. We'd love to see actual justice," the employer said.
Retail crime in NZ
Retail NZ previously warned that aggression, violence, and other retail crime "is getting worse" in New Zealand.
"Criminals are becoming increasingly organised and brazen, putting retail employees and customers at risk," it said on its website.
It further warned that retail crime imposes an annual cost of $2.6 billion on retailers, customers, and the local economy.
"Retail crime presents an increasing health and safety risk to employees and customers and to the financial sustainability of retail businesses," it added.
Major retailers across the country previously backed the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) to reduce harm and stamp out repeat offenders of retail crime.
"FRT offers the opportunity for us to quickly identify individuals of interest as they enter the store. Staff and/or security personnel are then able to respond quickly and decide how to manage each situation," the heads of major retailers said last year in a joint statement.
"Intervention is not required for every situation but FRT helps our teams to prevent or de-escalate incidents and offences."
The New Zealand government is also proposing harsher penalties for retail crime, such as on-the-spot fines for low-level theft.
