According to CNBC, Walmart has begun providing store-level employees with body cameras to wear as part of a test program at select U.S. sites.
Although the number of Walmart stores with the recording devices is unknown, witnesses and online images show that some of the stores now have signs at the front alerting customers that body-worn cameras are being used.
Earlier this month, a customer shared a picture of an associate verifying receipts wearing a yellow-and-black body camera with CNBC from at least one store in Denton, Texas, which is about 40 miles north of Dallas.
“We are constantly looking at new and innovative technology used across the retail industry,” a Walmart representative told CNBC, adding that the company does not discuss the specifics of its security measures. Before making any longer-term choices, we will assess the outcomes of this pilot project, which we are evaluating in a single market.
After smaller shops began experimenting with body cameras at their own locations as a means of deterring theft, Walmart, the biggest nongovernmental employer in the United States, is now evaluating the technology. According to someone familiar with the program, Walmart plans to employ the technology for worker safety rather than as a loss prevention tool, despite the fact that body cameras and the film they collect are frequently promoted as a means of preventing larceny.
According to a picture of the paper shared on an online forum for Walmart employees and customers, staff members are given instructions on how to operate the devices in a document titled Providing exceptional customer service while creating a safer environment. Employees are instructed not to wear the devices in restrooms or employee break areas, and to record an incident if a customer encounter is getting out of hand. According to the memo, employees are instructed to talk about an incident with a teammate who can assist them in recording it on the ethics and compliance app.
During the peak holiday shopping season, when retail staff put in long hours and deal with difficult interactions with consumers that can be more stressful and angry than normal, Walmart installed body cameras.
According to Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, there is an excessive amount of harassment that occurs all year long, but it is particularly bad during the holidays. Everyone is under stress. They become angry when they can’t locate what they’re seeking for, and who do they blame? They point the finger at the store employee.
It’s unclear, though, if body cams truly aid in defusing tensions. The RWDSU is worried that body cams are more about surveillance and preventing theft than they are about making workers safer, according to Appelbaum, whose union does not represent Walmart employees but rather employees from stores like Macy’s and H&M.
Employees must get deescalation training. Employees must receive training on how to handle aggressive situations at work. That is not what the body camera does. According to Appelbaum, the body camera doesn’t become involved. We require panic buttons and safe staffing.
According to Bianca Agustin, co-executive director of United for Respect, a workers’ organization representing Walmart and Amazon employees, the group has requested that Walmart increase employee training, but the firm has not complied. According to her, body cams might be a component of the solution, but they cannot replace appropriate training on their own.
There is a suggestion that the body cams will naturally encourage deescalation. “We don’t believe that to be true,” Agustin remarked. Since self-checkout kiosk employees are already frequently the targets of violence when they are trying to [deter theft], there is a chance that this could undermine that [deterrence] and incite others.
Agustin added that cameras are already present in stores.
A distinct viewpoint was offered by David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations at the National Retail Federation, the lobbying group for the retail sector. According to the merchants he works with, body cams have been shown to lessen conflict because individuals behave differently when they are aware that they are being filmed, particularly when the cameras are pointed directly at them.
You can really see yourself on camera thanks to the backward view monitors found on many of these body-worn cameras. According to Johnston, that can be a powerful deterrent in and of itself. It’s likely that you will change your behavior when you see yourself, and I believe that wearing a camera on your body can help with that.
In an effort to prevent theft and make businesses safer, merchants are also experimenting with body cameras in response to consumer complaints about merchandise being locked up in cases, according to Johnston.
According to former Sears Canada CEO and Columbia Business School director of retail studies Mark Cohen, Walmart has a lot of exposure. It’s likely that Walmart’s sales staff is quite upset with what they encounter and believes the company isn’t doing enough to safeguard both themselves and the business. And this is a test to see if it has any positive benefits on preventing crimes and reducing their associates’ stress and annoyance.
Whether associates will feel more comfortable wearing body cams is still unknown.One longstanding shop worker, who has now left the sector after working at Hot Topic for around 10 years, told CNBC that they are unsure if body cams would have prevented the frequent threats of violence.
Speaking under condition of anonymity, the former mall staffer claimed that these individuals are not acting logically when they are in our faces, acting as like they are going to hit us, or threatening to meet us in the parking lot. I don’t think they would care right now, even if there was a camera pointed at them.
The former worker claimed that while having a police officer nearby would have helped, wearing a body camera would not have made them feel safer during those encounters either.
35% of retailers who answered to the NRF’s annual security poll last year stated they were looking into body cams for retail staff or loss prevention personnel. Although none of the respondents said that body cams were completely functional, 11% stated that the retailers were either testing or piloting the technology.
Among them is TJX Companies.
The discount behemoth announced earlier this year that it has begun deploying body cameras in its stores, which are under the TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, and HomeGoods brands. John Joseph Klinger, the finance head, stated on a call with investors following the company’s May fiscal first-quarter earnings that the devices had been successful in lowering shrink, or lost inventory.
We started wearing body cameras on our [loss prevention] associates towards the end of last year, and that’s one of the new things we’ve implemented,” Klinger said. People are less likely to do something when they are being videotaped, so it’s almost like a deescalation when someone enters. Therefore, we firmly believe that’s also a factor.
A TJX representative said in a statement that the loss prevention workers who have body cameras have received extensive training on how to operate the cameras efficiently in their jobs.
Only when law enforcement requests it or in response to a subpoena is video footage released. One of the many ways we strive to promote a secure shop environment is through the use of body cameras. According to the spokesman, this covers a range of guidelines, instruction, and protocols. These body cameras are intended to assist us defuse tense situations, discourage criminal activity, and show our associates and customers that we take shop safety seriously.
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