Latest news with #RetailNZ
Scoop
6 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Report Confirms Facial Recognition Can Be Used Responsibly To Reduce Retail Crime
Retailers across New Zealand will welcome today's findings from the Privacy Commissioner, which confirm that Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) can be used in a way that complies with the Privacy Act, paving the way for responsible use to help tackle rising retail crime, Retail NZ says. Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster has released his review of the FRT trial conducted by Foodstuffs North Island. His report finds that the trial was compliant with the Privacy Act and the technology can be used with appropriate guardrails to protect individuals' privacy. Facial recognition technology is a powerful tool with the potential to help keep retail staff safe at work and to reduce crime, Retail NZ Chief Executive Carolyn Young says. 'We applaud the huge amount of time and effort that Foodstuffs North Island has put into this trial, to achieve strong outcomes that lead the way for the wider retail sector,' Ms Young says. 'We also acknowledge the work of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and their public inquiry that ran alongside the FRT trial.' The results of Foodstuffs North Island's FRT trial clearly showed that the technology had made a measurable impact in reducing harm and improving safety in stores. 'Retailers are crying out for proactive solutions that prevent crime and enhance the safety of their staff and customers. Our members continue to face high rates of violence and crime, putting both their employees and the public at risk, as well as threatening the financial sustainability of retail businesses. 'We know that retailers across Aotearoa New Zealand have been watching the trial with great interest and a number are investigating FRT for their own operations in the near future.' FRT is not going to be the solution for all businesses or all crime. Retailers may decide that it is not suitable for particular stores or locations, but it is a tool that retailers want to have available to consider alongside other crime prevention tools such as security guards, fog cannons, staff training, body cameras and other technology solutions, Ms Young says. Retail crime is a significant issue in New Zealand, impacting more than 99% of retailers and costing well over $2.6 billion a year. Retail NZ has formed a working group comprising a number of large retailers which is developing agreed approaches to crime prevention measures, including FRT. 'We will be taking time to review the details of the Privacy Commissioner's report to understand how we can best support Retail NZ members with guidelines on how to use FRT responsibly,' Ms Young says. Ms Young is a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group on retail crime which is also developing solutions to tackle retail crime.
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Retail group relieved police petty crime change not 'hard and fast rule'
Retail NZ is still waiting to meet with Police Minister Mark Mitchell, after calling for an urgent meeting about the directive. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel A retail group says it accepts police don't have the resources to investigate every report of crime. A recent memo directed police staff not to investigate crimes under a certain value , such as shoplifting allegations under $500. Police clarified this was not a firm rule and that investigations were triaged on a combination of value and solvability. "We're pleased that the police have clarified there isn't a hard and fast rule against investigating these lower value crimes ... Ideally we would have the police turning out to every report of crime but we understand they just don't have the resources to be able to do that," Retail NZ advocacy manager Ann-Marie Johnson said. "However we know a lot of retail crime is committed by recidivist offenders and so we need them to be able to track the patterns so they can capture these people when they offend again and again." She said police may need to refer to previous cases in order to arrest repeat shoplifters. "We at Retail NZ encourage retailers to report all offending and that helps police track patterns and put appropriate resourcing where necessary," she explained. Johnson had called for an urgent meeting with Police Minister Mark Mitchell, which she said was yet to be scheduled. "We meet with Minister Mitchell fairly regularly anyway to keep him updated on our views on retail crime, so we'd expect we'll be seeing him fairly shortly," she said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Retail NZ wants 'urgent meeting' with police minister over police shoplifting change
Police Minister Mark Mitchell at a media stand-up after the crime statistics were released on 15 April 2025. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Retail NZ is seeking an "urgent meeting" with the Police Minister after RNZ revealed a police directive to staff said they would no longer be investigating allegations of shoplifting below $500 regardless of lines of inquiry as part of a new nationwide directive. The directive, sent to staff in March, has sparked confusion about the reality of the situation, with police conceding on Friday that while the wording of the directive "could have been clearer" police would continue to investigate reports if there are avenues of inquiry to explore. RNZ has seen a directive that was recently sent to staff relating to police's File Management Centre (FMC) titled 'Assignment Changes - Theft and Fraud'. The directive said that from 26 March the FMC was applying "nationally standardised value thresholds" when assessing theft and fraud files. The value thresholds are - general theft $200, petrol drive off $150, shoplifting $500, fraud (paywave, online, scam etc) $1000, and all other fraud $500. "When assessing files with these offences, you will apply the relevant value threshold and file any file under that threshold regardless of any lines of enquiry or IFA score." Do you know more? Email The police instructions relating to Case Management define an IFA score as "a numeric value derived from a series of weighted factors which gives an indication of the solvability of the case, based on the presence or absence of certain key lines of enquiry". Retail NZ advocacy manager Ann-Marie Johnson told RNZ on Monday the organisation was seeking an "urgent meeting" with Police Minister Mark Mitchell to discuss the directive further "and to understand if anything has changed in the police's approach to retail crime". "In an ideal world, police would have the resources to attend and investigate every report of crime. Unfortunately retailers know this is not the case. Retail NZ has consistently advocated for police to have more resourcing. "We have also formed a working group comprising a number of large retailers which is developing agreed approaches to crime prevention measures including legislative change and technology like Facial Recognition Technology." Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young is a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group for the victims of retail crime. Johnson said Retail NZ recently published a report which identified that 99 percent of respondents, representing more than 1500 stores across New Zealand and online, experienced some form of retail crime or anti-social behaviour. There were more than 140,000 incidents through 2023-24. "The incidents ranged from credit card fraud and shoplifting through to threatening behaviour, criminal damage and physical assault." Johnson said about 40 percent of the retail crimes were not reported to police. "There were a range of reasons why respondents did not report incidents to police, such as low value items not being worth the effort; the retailer discovered the offence too late or dealt with it directly. Some also raised concerns that Police would not do anything." Retail NZ continued to encourage members to report all crime incidents to the police, regardless of the scale of the offending, Johnson said. "Our understanding is that all reports of retail crime are sent to the National Retail Investigative Support Unit so that they can track the full extent of retail crime, supporting Police to assign appropriate resources and keep track of repeat offenders." She said the cost of retail crime was about $2.6 billion a year in New Zealand. "This cost flows through from retailers to customers to the New Zealand economy, and so is a major brake on the retail sector's contribution to economic growth. "Every day, retailers are dealing with threatening, violent or simply unpleasant customers, who are trying to steal or damage their property. Almost every retail worker has been affected by crime and aggression which is traumatic for those directly involved and their colleagues. This is a serious health and safety issue for retail employers." Mitchell declined to comment when approached on Friday. RNZ has requested further comment in response to Retail NZ's statement. On Friday, police's National Retail Investigation Support Manager Matt Tierney confirmed police was "standardising" its approach to reports of lower-level crime, "ensuring more consistency nationwide" and freeing up frontline staff to focus on "the most significant incidents and prolific offenders." He said there was no change to the way police assessed and responded to reports of "lower-level crime". Tierney said that if a 111 call was placed regarding an incident such as shoplifting which had just occurred, and the offender was still there or had only just left, this had always been - and would continue to be prioritised for dispatch by police. "This means that, pending availability, officers will typically be immediately dispatched. This is regardless of the value of goods taken. "However, the reality is that police cannot attend every such report right away - but we need people to keep reporting incidents to us, so we continue to have a picture of when and where offending is occurring." He said the public could be "rest assured" that each report had always been, and would continue to be, assessed on its individual merits. "Reports through 105, or Auror, where there is clear accompanying evidence to support a potential prosecution - CCTV, for example - will continue to be forwarded to Districts for further follow-up. "However, if there is no provided or potential further evidence to support a report below a certain threshold, the possible lines of enquiry are limited - meaning that unless further supporting evidence comes to light, no further action can be taken." Tierney said police knew it was "likely to be frustrating for victims" if police cannot progress their report. "We would continue to urge people to report all offending, no matter how low-level. It is this information that allows us to track patterns, and link offences together - potentially leading to significant prosecutions. "Police's focus is on holding the most harmful retail offenders to account, meaning those who are undertaking brazen and dangerous retail offending, such as aggravated robbery." Further pressed on the directive by RNZ's Checkpoint, Tierney said the value of the crime did not change the way that police investigate. Asked what police would do if the offender had left the scene after stealing $450 worth of goods and police were called, Tierney said it depended on the level of evidence available. He said the examples given in the directive would be "investigated as part of a wider investigation" into offenders when police are "looking at the offender as a whole". Tierney said the document seen by RNZ was not his document and that it was an internal email sent out by another senior police officer. Asked if police's position had changed since the directive was sent out, he said it had not. "But it needs to be read and understood in its entirety. You're focusing on the value that's not the whole entirety of the email." Asked what the purpose of supplying the dollar values was, he said Checkpoint would have to ask the author of the report. Tierney said police would be seeking prosecutions on files below the financial levels. He said the directive had been "taken out of context and possibly misunderstood". "Police will 100 percent investigate crimes, irrespective of value." "I can assure the New Zealand public that that person will be prosecuted and put before the courts. There's no change in that at all. Whether they're arrested on site or arrested later after the fact, and it could be, you know, up to a year after the fact, they'll still be held to account for whatever that value is." He said he had only been made aware of the email after RNZ made inquiries. "There's multiple 1000s of emails that go through police every day. I'm not privy to all of them, so it's not unusual, but it's good that it has come through, and we can seek clarification and we can explain how we can explain our point." In response to further questions a police spokesperson said while the wording of the directive RNZ had seen "could have been clearer", it must not be considered in isolation. "There have been a number of conversations and discussions around getting this to a nationally-consistent place. "This is more of a back-channel streamlining of initial report assessment - practically speaking, the public can be reassured that if there is something for police to follow-up with, we will do so." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
No Quick Growth For Retail In Budget 2025
The struggling retail sector will see little immediate prospect of an uplift in consumer spending from today's Budget announcements, Retail NZ says. 'There is little in the Budget to suggest that we will see any quick improvements in consumer and business confidence,' Retail NZ Advocacy Manager Ann-Marie Johnson says. 'There will be no economic growth without retail growth. Until consumers feel confidence about their future, they will continue to be careful about spending their discretionary dollars.' Retail NZ welcomes the Government's continued focus on combating crime, with the increased spending on policing, serious youth offenders and cutting the backlog in our courts. The new Investment Boost, allowing a business to immediately deduct 20% of the cost of a new asset, on top of depreciation, will no doubt be of value to retailers who are looking to invest in their businesses, Ms Johnson says. 'However, only yesterday Smith + Caughey's confirmed it will close, with the loss of almost 100 jobs. This is just the latest retail business closure that we are aware of. Many more retailers will struggle to make it through the winter. 'Our members will need to continue tightening their belts in anticipation of slow sales until confidence returns to the marketplace. The light at the end of the tunnel is still a long way off.'
Scoop
14-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Budget 2025 Must Deliver Consumer Confidence
Press Release – Retail NZ Retail NZs latest quarterly Retail Radar survey, covering January-March 2025, found that 57% of retailers did not meet sales targets for the quarter and had mixed expectations for quarter two sales. Retailers will be looking for next week's Budget announcements to boost consumer confidence and spending, Retail NZ says. Strong signals on economic recovery are on Retail NZ's wish list for the Budget announcements. The Electronic Card Transactions data for April 2025, released today by Stats NZ, shows a tiny increase in sales compared with April 2024, it is not enough to improve the outlook for retail, Retail NZ Advocacy Manager Ann-Marie Johnson says. The 0.8% lift reflects the Easter public holidays, which fell fully within April this year, and also within the April school holiday period. Easter spanned March and April in 2024. The figures also show that the value of the average transaction has not changed since April last year, with consumers spending $55 per transaction. 'There's still a long way to go before we see any light at the end of the tunnel. Retail NZ members are anticipating slow sales and uncertainty through this winter. Although there may be some relief from lower interest rates putting more money in consumers' pockets, low consumer confidence will continue to rein in spending. We are hoping the upcoming Budget will help restore confidence to the marketplace.' Retail NZ's latest quarterly Retail Radar survey, covering January-March 2025, found that 57% of retailers did not meet sales targets for the quarter and had mixed expectations for quarter two sales.
