C+D can now reveal how many crimes in pharmacies were recorded year by year in different regions across the UK between 2019 and 2021.

A total of 30* of the UK’s 45 police authorities shared data with C+D for 2019, 2020 and 2021 in response to C+D’s freedom of information (FOI) requests.

Police in Scotland did not provide data to C+D for this investigation, claiming that extracting the relevant information about crime in pharmacies “would cost well in excess” of the current cost threshold of FOI requests to police authorities.

The crime data provided for this investigation encompasses: arson and criminal damage; burglary; drug offences; crimes in which there was no direct victim, which police forces recorded as “miscellaneous crimes against society”; possession of weapons; public order offences; robbery; sexual offences; theft/shoplifting; vehicle offences and “other”.

Use the graph below to look at crime data for different areas by selecting individual police forces in each region

   

Some police forces did not provide a breakdown of crimes committed in all three years in their responses. C+D has therefore limited its analysis to those police forces that have shared information for all three years.

Last week, C+D revealed that in 2021 alone, police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received at least 1,240 reports of violent crime committed in pharmacies.

Using data provided in response to C+D’s FOI requests, police authorities also unveiled the array of weapons wielded against pharmacy team members – and at times members of the public too.

 

*C+D stated in previous stories that 29 forces had provided data for 2019, 2020, and 2021. However, the analysis presented in this article also includes data from a police force that responded to C+D’s request for data following the publication of those stories.

The findings presented in this article are the results of a wider C+D investigation into crimes in pharmacies and are the starting point of our campaign #NoExcuseForAbuse. Sign up to our newsletter and follow us on our social media channels to stay up to date with the latest findings.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, Pharmacist Support has provided a list of resources to turn to for support.

Have you been on the receiving end of abuse or aggressive behaviour from patients? Share your experiences on the C+D Community or if you'd prefer to remain anonymous, please contact [email protected].