Walmart employees have begun to wear body cameras as concerns about crime and shoplifting are on the rise.
The Arkansas-based retail giant recently began a pilot test involving multiple stores in the Dallas area to address confrontations with unruly customers, a person familiar with the initiative told The Post.
“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 said 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 devices were spotted at a store in Denton, Texas where employees were sporting the cameras while they checked customers’ receipts, according to a report by CNBC.
Walmart declined to say how many stores are participating in the program or to share any findings about the test.
Other retailers use body cameras to prevent theft and violent incidents, which has spiked over the past several years as a rash of smash and grab incidents have gripped the retail industry from grocery stores to department stores and luxury boutiques.
The high incidence of these crimes has resulted in expensive and popular merchandise, including toothpaste, clothing detergent and toiletries being locked up and requiring the assistance of a store clerk.
Walmart staff were instructed on how to use the cameras, according to CNBC, which cited an online forum for Walmart employees and customers.
Walmart employees are advised to “record an event if an interaction with a customer is escalating,” and to remove the cameras in employee break areas and bathrooms, according to a Walmart document entitled “Providing customers service while creating a safer environment,” cited by CNBC.
Employees are told to log any incidents in the “ethics and compliance” app.
The Walmart initiative comes as retailers struggle with how to handle aggressive customers who may have mental health issues or are trying to steal merchandise.
This year, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Retail Worker Safety Act, which will require merchants with 50 or more employees to install panic buttons that will alert law enforcement to come to the store immediately. The panic buttons will be required by Jan. 2027.
It’s the first such law in the U.S. and Walmart opposed it arguing that it would result in false alarms.
Other retail experts have argued that body cameras are effective deterrents to bad behavior.
“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,” David Johnston, vice president of asset protection for the National Retail Federation told CNBC.
“That in itself can be a very big deterrent. 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.”
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