Violent and Aggressive Behaviour (VAB)
Violent and aggressive behaviour is a workplace health and safety risk that can cause significant harm.
The consequences of VAB incidents can include physical and psychological injury, low team and individual morale, poor mental health, and increased absenteeism.
By the numbers
With nearly 150,000 retail crimes reported in Aotearoa New Zealand each year, addressing VAB is crucial and requires proactive, system-wide engagement.
The latest statistics from NZ Police show that between 2018 and 2023 there was a concerning rise in retail crime:
- Crime within a retail setting or a service station increased by 115%
- Robbery increased by 13% compared with the same period the previous year
- A potential shift to violent offending is occurring
According to the NZ Retail Crime Report (2023) by Retail NZ:
- The annual cost of retail crime is $2.6 billion, over 1% of New Zealand’s GDP.
- 92% of participating retailers reported they were affected by crime in the past 12 months, an 11% increase from seven years ago.
Our approach
ShopCare collaborates with subject matter experts to implement evidence-based solutions that manage and reduce the impact of violent and aggressive workplace incidents.
Retail operators, both large and small, benefit from learning techniques to identify and mitigate conflict, which can lead to a reduction in the number of VAB incidents.
Our work aims to:
- Reduce the risk of physical and mental harm to retail workers caused by VAB from members of the public.
- Decrease the number of retail-related VAB incidents through establishing evidence-based interventions to help retailers mitigate conflict.
How ShopCare can help your business
- We provide training, develop resources, and showcase effective controls.
- Our freely available De-escalation Programme has been designed to prepare customer-facing teams and store managers for situations with angry, aggressive or potentially violent customers.
- We facilitate information sharing and collaborative learning for all retail operators, large and small.
- Retail workers and managers can learn helpful techniques for identifying and mitigating potential conflict, reducing the number of incidents across the sector.
- Working with stakeholders such as NZ Police will help to create consistent, effective methods for risk identification and incident de-escalation.
ShopCare online training
1. VAB de-escalation
At ShopCare, we offer a comprehensive de-escalation programme designed to help customer-facing teams and store managers handle situations involving angry, aggressive, or potentially violent customers. This training equips them with the skills and confidence needed to manage these situations effectively and stay safe.
Our programme is freely available and includes four tailored courses, click to access below. If you would like to download a PDF that you can email your team with direct links to the videos, please click here to access the PDF.
2. Psychosocial training modules
Looking after your team’s wellbeing matters – especially after facing violence or aggression at work. Our new psychosocial training modules have been created in partnership with the expert team at Umbrella Wellbeing, with a focus on supporting kaimahi in retail and manufacturing sectors.
These short, online courses are designed by organisational psychologists to help you understand what’s going on in your brain and body during times of stress, and offer proven strategies to support recovery – both in the moment and over the long-term.
Whether you’re on the front line or leading a team, this training will help you recognise the signs of stress in yourself and others, and know when and how to step in.
Click below to access these modules.
ShopCare research
“Keep it Safe, Keep it Civil”
Understanding the causes of VAB incidents can help to reduce their impact. ShopCare has commissioned a two-part programme to:
- Investigate the underlying causes of VAB
- Develop a proactive, multi-sector work programme to reduce VAB frequency and ferocity in retail settings
Read our latest research and insight:
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VAB data
Collaboration is crucial for the industry to tackle VAB. We work with stakeholders across multiple sectors to share successful interventions and reduce the harm caused to frontline workers and the community.
NZ Police National Retail Investigation Support Unit (NRISU)
In November 2021, the NRISU was established – an internal Police unit that targets repeat offenders across the motu/country who are offending in multiple locations but may not be identified at a local level.
The unit partners with the retail sector and crime prevention organisations at a national level and works with police staff at a district level to assist them to specifically target offenders causing the greatest harm to the retail sector, its staff, and customers. To date they have laid 2,000 charges and arrested 350 offenders and laid 2,000 charges. See this introduction from Matthew Tierney, the manager of NRISU, explaining how they support retailers.
The NZ Police Retail Crime Prevention Hub has helpful resources including educational videos, posters, and advice.
Retail NZ
As New Zealand’s peak body for retailers, Retail NZ publishes an annual Retail Crime Report, presenting key findings on crime trends across the sector over six years.
NZ Police Crime Snapshot Dashboard
NZ Police are a strategic partner of ShopCare focusing on the violent and aggressive behaviours encountered by our frontline workers within the retail sector and beyond. The link below will direct you to an interactive dashboard that can be used to understand trends and hotspots. The dashboard captures all crime data, however there are specific crime types and geographic areas which will be of interest to retail and wider sectors.
The dashboard enables focus on the following geographical areas;
- National
- Regional
- Specific districts
The dashboard enables focus on the specific crime types relevant to retail such as:
- Assault
- Robbery
- Burglary
- Theft
Note: the dashboard covers all crime within the specific crime type, for example, home burglary stats.
VAB Webinars
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Behaviour & Conflict ID – “The Non-verbal’s utilised by those with bad intent in the retail space”
Scott Taylor shares insights on the physiological changes that people with bad intent show in the retail space, if their intent is theft, violence or anti-social activities. He teaches how to be better prepared to identify and manage a potential situation.
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Safety & Security, Managing Aggressive Behaviour, and Crowded Places Strategy
Paul Walsh (Rusec Ltd.) and Craig Webb (QRisk NZ) take you through strategies for personal safety and security in crowded places.
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Retail Crime: The Health and Safety Crisis in Customer-Facing Environments
BNZ's Head of Protective Services, Lisa White, explores the growing issue of retail crime in New Zealand as well as the unique challenges large organisations face in managing safety risks across multiple locations. This webinar is shared courtesy of ecoPortal.