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. Appelbaum, whose union does not represent Walmart employees but includes staff from retailers such asMacy sand H&M, said the RWDSU is concerned that body cameras are more about surveillance and deterring theft than making employees safer.
Employees must get deescalation training. Workers need training on what to do during a hostile situation at work. The body camera doesn t do that. The body camera doesn t intervene, said Appelbaum. We need safe staffing and we need panic buttons.
Bianca Agustin, the co-executive director of United for Respect, a workers organization for Walmart and Amazon staffers, said the group has asked Walmart to provide more training for its employees but that the company hasn t met those demands. She said body cameras could be part of the solution but cameras alone are no substitute for proper training.
There s a claim that the body cams are going to promote deescalation just organically. We don t think that s true, said Agustin. You see a lot of violence against workers already at the self-checkout kiosks when they even are attempting to [deter theft] … there s a potential that this might hurt that [deterrence] … it also could provoke people.
Plus, there s already cameras in stores, said Agustin.
David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations for the National Retail Federation, the retail industry s lobbying arm, provided a different perspective. He said the retailers he works with have said body cameras have helped to reduce conflict because people act differently when they know they re being recorded, especially when those cameras are directly in front of a person.
Many of these body-worn cameras have reverse view monitors on them so … there s a little video screen that you actually see yourself on camera. That in itself can be a very big deterrent, said Johnston. The moment that you see yourself is probably [when] you re going to change your behavior, and that s what I think the use of a body-worn camera can do.
As customers complain aboutmerchandise being locked up in cases, body cameras are another technique retailers are trying out as they look to deter theft and make stores safer, said Johnston.
Walmart s got tremendous exposure, said Mark Cohen, former CEO of Sears Canada and former director of retail studies at Columbia Business School. Walmart s probably got a sales force that is very unhappy about what they re exposed to … [and] feel like the store is not doing enough to protect the store and themselves. And this is a test to see whether it has any beneficial effects, both on deterring criminals and salving the anxiety and the irritation of their associates.
Still, it s not clear whether associates will feel better wearing body cameras.One longtime retail employee, who spent around a decade working at Hot Topic and has since left the industry, told CNBC that being threatened with violence was a regular part of the job, and they re not sure body cameras would have stopped it.
With these people, when they re in our faces and they re acting like they re going to hit us or they re making threats to meet us in the parking lot, they re not thinking rationally, said the former mall employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Even with a camera facing them, I don t think they would care in the moment.
The former employee said a body camera wouldn t have made them feel safer in those interactions, either, but having a police presence nearby would have helped.
Last year, the NRF sannual security surveyfound that 35% of retailers who responded said they were researching body cameras for retail employees or loss prevention staff. While no respondents said body cameras were fully operational, 11% said the retailers were either piloting or testing the solution.
TJX Companiesis one of them.
Earlier this year, the off-price giant said it had started using body cameras in its stores, which include its TJ Maxx, Marshall s and HomeGoods banners. On a call with analysts after the company reported fiscal first-quarter earnings in May, finance chief John Joseph Klinger said the devices had been effective in reducing shrink, or lost inventory.
One of the things that we ve added we started to do last year, late towards the year, wear body cameras on our [loss prevention] associates, said Klinger. And when somebody comes in, it s sort of it s almost like a deescalation where people are less likely to do something when they re being videotaped. So we definitely feel that that s playing a role also.
In a statement, a TJX spokesperson said the loss prevention associates who have body cameras have gone through thorough training on how to use the cameras effectively in their roles.
Video footage is only shared upon request by law enforcement or in response to a subpoena. Body cameras are just one of the many ways that we work to support a safe store environment. This includes a variety of policies, trainings, and procedures, the spokesperson said. We hope that these body cameras will help us de-escalate incidents, deter crime, and demonstrate to our Associates and customers that we take safety in our stores seriously.
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