The incidence of threatening and violent behaviour in community pharmacy is of concern to pharmacists and their staff, who, if they have not experienced events themselves, will be aware of anecdotal reports and will have their own perceptions about their vulnerability and risks. The frequency of serious and more minor incidents, when and where they occur, is unknown. The concerns of pharmacists may have wide‐ranging implications for pharmacy practice and the services pharmacists are prepared to offer. This study was conducted in two stages: a postal survey of all community pharmacies in six family health services authorities in and around London, followed by semi‐structured interviews with pharmacists who had reported a threat and/or an assault while at work. This first paper reports an investigation of the frequency and nature of events, pharmacists' perceptions of crime and of their own safety, and the association of these findings with demographic and other variables. The second paper addresses the implications for pharmacists and community pharmacy services.Fifty‐one per cent of respondents reported that they or their staff had at some time been threatened with violence and 31 per cent had been assaulted. Incidents involving knives or firearms comprised about one‐fifth of all cases. Approximately one‐third of events related to robbery of drugs, supply of prescriptions or non‐dispensing pharmacy services and would thus be peculiar to community pharmacy. Therefore the possession of drugs on the premises and other aspects of the professional role of pharmacists places them at increased risk over other retail businesses. Significant minorities of pharmacists did not feel safe in the pharmacy on their own, or undertaking certain everyday activities. Events and concerns were more common in areas with a high Jarman score. Only weak associations were found between whether or not pharmacists reported incidents and personal and other business char
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