More retailers resort to body cameras

Body-worn cameras are “a useful tool against crime,” a retail industry insider claimed as more and more retailers in the UK are seen issuing staff with body-worn video cameras (BWVs) to tackle rising tide of violence and abuse against retail staff.

Violence and abuse against retail workers rose from 350 daily incidents in 2016-17 to 455 a day in 2019-20, as per British Retail Consortium (BRC) Crime Survey 2021. That is over 165,000 a year, or one every 75 seconds if a typical trading day is taken as nine hours. Forty-five incidents a day involved a weapon, says the report.

The BRC reports that only 54 per cent of all the incidents of violence and abuse end up being reported to police and a mere six per cent result in prosecution. Around 155,000 incidents a year are never prosecuted, and the situation is not improving.

To tackle rising crime, retailers like Central England Co-op, are widening the use of body cameras in an effort to deter threats and acts of violence towards retail staff members and security guards. Boots too have given body cameras to its employees in 60 stores as a measure against the “increasing problem” of abuse from customers.

Discussing this, a spokesperson for BRC – which represents 70 per cent of the UK retail industry by turnover – tells a media outlet,  “Body-worn cameras were introduced to identify those who attack security staff, act as a deterrent to would-be criminals, and protect alleged attackers from false allegations. Body-worn cameras are a useful tool against crime.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Midland Co-operative Society (Scotmid Co-Op) has also begun trialling the use of body-worn video cameras (BWV) across what it described as three “high risk stores” in Scotland.

The co-operative, which has more than 185 Scotmid supermarkets and Lakes & Dales convenience stores across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, said it was making the move in response to increasing levels of crime witnessed at its stores. According to a report by the group, anti-social behaviour and verbal abuse directed towards staff has increased by 38 per cent over the past year.

Staff at stores in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee will be supplied with VT100 body-worn cameras from Motorola Solutions to “aid the management of ‘flashpoint’ situations”. The cameras feature audit-trails, encryption, configurable retention policies and RFID camera allocation operated by one-push activation.