Was I right to advise DD to call police in this situation?

[parentingteensismental]

DD (17) works part time at a well known bakery chain. The shop she works in is in a town centre a few miles out from where we live and it's not in the best area - think poverty / high crime rates sort of area.

She was on shift with a female colleague earlier this week and they were locking up as it was 7pm (closing time). A couple of lads which she estimated to be around 12/13 at most were standing at the doors as she began to close them. She opened one and said, "sorry we are closing now". One of the lads replied "why are you closing?" My daughter said "because it's closing time, its 7pm". As she tried to close the door the lad pushed against it, while his mate stood laughing. My daughter is not very assertive and hates confrontation etc, so she turned to her colleague and asked what do I do? Colleague came to the door and repeated "we're closed" and both girls closed the door. Lad then proceeded to push open the other door that hadn't been locked yet, and then kicked the door several times repeatedly whilst his mate was laughing along. The girls managed to lock up and the boys eventually disappeared but my daughter said her and her colleague (not much older than DD, in her early 20s), both felt intimidated and a bit shaken up. They didn't feel able to leave work straight away in case the lads were still around outside.

I told my DD in that situation if someone is kicking the shop door and trying to push it open when you've explained you're closing, just call the police to deal with it. My DD said she wouldn't call the police in this situation because "he was only a kid so what are they going to do, and also it's not my place to call the police as I'm not a supervisor".

I explained to her that if she feels intimidated and someone is behaving in this manner, no matter their age, the police is an appropriate course of action. She thought I was overreacting.

Was this reasonable advice?

YANBU

It also worried me that she thought she needed to be a supervisor to call the police of something happened at work. She hasn't been in the job long and it's her first proper job around college, so I don't want her to think she can't take appropriate action no matter her position at work, if that makes sense.

Another thing that annoyed me about it was the fact these lads would likely never have dreamed of kicking the door and trying to pull the doors open etc if a male was trying to lock up. It just feels like another way that young males try to intimidate young women. 😡

I've called the police in previous jobs a few times because of people just threatening to cause damage to property.

You definitely gave the right advice.

A group of lads might depending on how they sized the male up but def your DD shouldn’t hesitate in phoning the police especially if it happens again too.

That's reassuring! It was DD's reaction that made me question whether I was overreacting. The kicking of the doors took it one step too far for me, that's the point I'd have picked up the phone to the police myself.

It sounds like she dealt with it really well. If she had called the police she was likely to be faced with a long wait on the non emergency number and the police wouldn't attend as there was no immediate threat. That's not to say she was wrong to feel unsettled but simply the reality of police resources at present.

There should be more guidance from her well known bakery shop on what to do when this happens. She should check in with her supervisor to let them know and ask if there is any internal reporting for incidents like this.

A joyful moment of my youth was having some young lads be twats as we were closing up. I told them I'd call the police if they didn't behave. They continued being lairy.
There were two on duty officers in the manager's office by the tills who were more than happy to help.
All Sorted.

I was once in a similar situation when I was in my late teens. Police refused to come. Said they didn't do call outs to businesses and it was our responsibility to manage it. !!

If it's a Greggs- we have one close to us that experiences similar issues, larger gangs of hooded youths gather/rush the shop and nick pasties, bakes etc. they're seen as a soft target because they're often minimally staffed and it's easy to grab some tasty food. She should definitely ring the police if this happens and should also speak to her manager because there must be a duty of care for staff regarding security.

We've had that, we now close an hour earlier. I can tell you they absolutely WILL do it to a male, they know they can't be touched.

It should be good advice but ringing the police for help is a good life lesson

Yes it's Greggs

In general I think crime is getting worse with the cost of living crisis and boundaries of behaviour are being crossed more often. Places like Greggs/KFC/Macdonalds seem to attract more of this because youths tend to hang out there for cheap food etc. I'm sorry to hear about your daughter, you are giving her absolutely the right advice, she should feel safe at her place of work.