CCTV captures shopkeeper being threatened with huge knife as retailers warn they suffer PTSD
Video report by ITV News Meridian's Charlotte Wilkins
Some staff working in retail in the South are suffering from PTSD after being subjected to violence and abuse in their day to day roles.
Gareth Lewis, Security Manager, Southern Co-op said: "These are ordinary people doing an ordinary job working in a shop, but some members of society are subjecting them to high levels of abuse and it's uncalled for.
"These incidents take a fleeting moment but the effects last a lifetime, we've got staff members who are suffering from PTSD because of these issues, it's horrendous."
In response, Sussex Police has set up a specialist team to tackle the issue.
The team will look at violence and abuse against staff, as well as vandalism and shoplifting and they will not just focus on the retail industry.
Chief Insp Ed Ripley, Sussex Police Business Crime Team said: "You've got busier locations, the town centres, the city centres, you're always going to have a higher volume of crime in those areas but we can't forget the independents, smaller stores that are in rural areas that are equally impacted by theft than those larger stores.
"So this crime team invest explores crime right across the board not just at the larger retailers."
Ass Chief Constable Tanya Jones, Sussex Police said: "The Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner set up the Safer Sussex Business Partnership and that's been instrumental in identifying what the problems were, as we know that reporting crime is difficult.
"So people can upload their CCTV to the cloud so we can deal with them and apprehend them a lot quicker than we were able to beforehand."
Earlier this year the union Usdaw called on the government to introduce a new law to help those who work in the retail industry.
It is hoped this new task force in Sussex will go some way to protect local businesses and make sure staff get the respect they deserve.