- Walmart is piloting a body-camera program at a set of stores as a safety measure for employees as the retail industry as a whole contends with rising levels of crime and violence from shoppers. Retailers have asked employees to wear the cameras as a way to deter difficult interactions from escalating. Walmart did not offer insight on the specific type of body cameras worn by employees in the pilot program.
It’s the holiday season, and shoppers have gotten more testy—and in some cases, violent—than ever before.
The National Retail Federation reports “unprecedented levels” of retail crime, violence, and theft, and that’s spurred some of the nation’s largest retailers to take action by implementing the use of body cameras by employees. Walmart, the No. 1 retailer on the Fortune 500, confirmed Tuesday it’s piloting a program in which employees at a select number of stores are wearing body cameras as a safety measure.
“While we don’t talk about the specifics of our security measures, we are always looking at new and innovative technology used across the retail industry,” a Walmart spokesperson told Fortune in a statement. “This is a pilot we are testing in one market, and we will evaluate the results before making any longer-term decisions.”
The program is being piloted in the Dallas area: One shopper at a store in Denton, Texas, shared a photo with CNBC showing the recording devices. Social media users have also shared photos of the yellow-and-black devices and signage posted at stores that reads “body-worn cameras in-use.”
Walmart didn’t confirm which brand makes the body cameras it’s using in stores. However, one TikTok user, who identifies himself as a deputy sheriff in Texas, said the body cameras worn by Walmart workers are the same brand he wears, which is Axon. Several images of the cameras shared on social media also show the body cameras are Axon branded, but the company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune.
@deputybryanwoodard Believe it or not. WALMART employees are now wearing body cameras. #walmart #walmartfinds #walmartsyncalong #axon #bodycam #police #4upage #foryoupage ♬ original sound - Dr. Bryan D. Woodard
While the use of body cameras by retailers isn’t completely new, they’ve historically been used as a loss-prevention measure. But now, with an uptick in violence against retail workers, some companies are using them to prevent violent acts against workers.
“While theft has an undeniable impact on retailer margins and profitability, retailers are highly concerned about the heightened levels of violence and threat of violence associated with theft and crime,” according to the NRF. Plus, the NRF's latest retail theft and violence report shows about 91% of those surveyed say that shoplifters are exhibiting more violence and aggression compared with 2019, which highlights "why retailers are continuously looking at measures to reduce the threat of violence.”
Are body cameras effective at deterring violence against retail workers?
Some social media users have criticized the measure, arguing it’s too extreme; others say the use of body cameras can be an effective deescalation measure—and could really help workers.
"Though some people would blame store employees for insufficiently intervening in acts of in-store violence, store employees are not police officers,” Danny Karon, consumer attorney at Karon LLC, told Fortune. “It’s not their job to put out fires; it’s their job to sell merchandise. Anyone who blames store employees for customer violence and, accordingly, discourages the use of body cameras is looking at this problem all wrong."
Other retailers have started implementing body cameras, both as a shoplifting prevention measure and safety protocol. Some of these body cameras have reverse-view monitors on them so customers can see themselves on a little video screen if they approach workers, David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations for the NRF, told CNBC.
The videos and images available on social media of Walmart’s body cameras don’t clearly show whether their cameras have the same technology, but Johnston said these can serve as a “very big deterrent” for shoppers getting violent with workers.
“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,” he told CNBC.
The TJX Companies, including TJ Maxx, Marshall’s and HomeGoods, are also testing body cameras on its loss-prevention workers.
“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,” TJX chief financial officer John Joseph Klinger said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call in May.
Experts say these devices can make a difference, but “cameras are not a perfect fix,” Eric Brown, founder and CEO of leadership and team management consulting firm Imperio Consulting, told Fortune.
“Some employees might see them as a sign of distrust, and there’s always a risk of over-relying on footage,” said Brown, who previously served in the U.S. Army Special Forces. “Video doesn’t capture everything, and it can’t replace real-time judgment.”
Plus, the "use of body cameras is still a newer technology being used in retail and individual retailers are finding how this technology best works within their environments," Johnston told Fortune.
Still, the new body-camera program at Walmart could also serve as a sigh of relief from retail workers. According to a November report from online compliance training company Traliant, more than one-third of Gen Z retail workers have witnessed workplace violence happening to another employee in the past five years, and less than half of Gen Z workers feel confident in their ability to deescalate potential violent workplace situations.
“We’ve all seen YouTube videos featuring retail shoppers being inexplicably, unnecessarily, and needlessly aggressive,” Karon said. “There’s no reason they need to be subjected to this avoidable danger, and the use of employee body cameras is long overdue.”
