Paterson said she felt powerless when a shoplifter stole from the cafe’s tip jar a few months ago.
“We just had to put our hands up and let it go. We followed up with the police, but there hasn’t been a solid outcome,” she said.
Nicky Gaddum, manager of Matangi Angus Beef, a boutique butchery in Hastings, said the reforms do not appeal to her.
“If you are confronted with a crime in your store, that’s not something that I would want to take into my own hands. I don’t think it’s safe to do that.”
For the owner of the antiques and vintage store Romantique, Tracy Rutherford, taking action is not worth it.
“I think we would put ourselves at risk if we tried to detain a shoplifter,” she said.
“But also, depending on who is the shoplifter. It could be a huge guy or a small person. But I am not very big so, I’m not putting myself at risk for one little thing to be stolen.”
Rutherford recalled an experience from a few years ago, when she lived in Auckland.
“A couple of necklaces went missing, and we assumed a particular person took them, but at that stage we weren’t allowed to do anything.”
She said if these new measures had been in place back then she could potentially at least shut the door to detain the person.
The set of reforms aims to combat the rising trend of retail crime in New Zealand.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced the new measures on Wednesday, citing an 85% increase in retail crime between 2019 and 2023, including a 91% rise in theft-related victimisations.
In Hawke’s Bay, reported crimes rose by 9.42% in 2024, with more than 1000 additional offences in Napier and Hastings largely down to an increase in burglaries and thefts.
“Currently, no one, including retailers and security guards, is protected from civil or criminal liability if they arrest and detain a person stealing goods valued at less than $1000 during the day,” Goldsmith and McKee said in announcing the changes.
The initial package of reforms, put forward by the Ministerial Advisory Group include:
- Amending the Crimes Act so that citizens can intervene to stop any Crimes Act offence at any time of the day.
- Requiring that a person making an arrest contact police and follow police instructions.
- Clarifying that restraints can be used, when reasonable, when making an arrest.
- Changing the defence of property provisions to the Crimes Act so it is clear that reasonable force may be used.
Goldsmith said the changes will help businesses protect their livelihood and deter criminal activity.
“This Government will ensure that people working in the retail sector are being effectively protected, are empowered to stop offending, and that offenders are caught and deterred from future offending,” he says.
With about 230,000 New Zealanders working in the retail sector, McKee says that the reforms are part of a broader initiative to better support retailers.
First Union, which represents retail workers, say the Government’s approach will unfairly pressure low-paid employees.
General secretary Dennis Maga said the reforms could expose workers to increased violence and a “risk of injury and death”.
“The National Party and their $3.6m advisory group have decided that the best way to deal with increased retail crime is apparently to treat retail workers like the state’s free cops,” Maga said.
“You do not solve the problem of retail crime, by making retail workers responsible for personally policing theft in stores - you make the prospect of working in these jobs even less appealing.”
A police spokesperson declined to comment as the proposed Government legislation is yet to be considered by the House.
“We work within the parameters of the current law. Our focus is on working in our communities to prevent crime and harm and hold offenders to account.”
