The Walmart logo appears outside one of its stores in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.
Paul Weaver | Rocket Lite | Getty Images
Walmart CNBC has begun giving away store-level body cameras to wear as part of a pilot program at some of its U.S. locations, CNBC has learned.
It's not clear how many Walmart stores have recording devices, but some locations now have signs at entry points warning shoppers that they have “body-worn cameras,” according to witnesses and photos posted online.
At at least one store in Denton, Texas — about 40 miles north of Dallas — an associate was seen checking receipts wearing a yellow and black body camera earlier this month, according to a shopper who shared a photo with CNBC.
“While we don't talk about the details of our security measures, we always look at new and innovative technology used in the retail industry,” a Walmart spokesperson told CNBC. “This is a pilot program that we are testing in one market, and we will evaluate the results before making any long-term decisions.”
Walmart, the largest non-government employer in the United States, is testing the technology after small retailers began experimenting with body cameras in their own stores as a way to deter theft. Body cameras and the footage they collect are typically advertised as a way to prevent shoplifting, but Walmart intends to use the technology for worker safety — not as a loss prevention tool, according to a person familiar with the program.
In a document titled “Providing Great Customer Service While Creating a Safer Environment,” employees are instructed on how to use the devices, according to an image of the document posted on an online forum for Walmart employees and customers. It directs employees to “record an event if customer interaction escalates” and not to wear the devices in employee break areas and bathrooms. After an incident occurs, employees are asked to discuss the matter with another team member, who can help them log the event in their “ethics and compliance application,” according to the document.
Walmart's body cameras come during the holiday shopping season, when retail employees work long hours and face difficult interactions with customers that can be more tense and hostile than usual.
“There's a lot of harassment that happens throughout the year, but especially during the holiday season… it's worse,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Association. “Everyone gets stressed. If they can't find the item they're looking for, they get upset and who do they blame? They blame the store worker.”
However, it is unclear whether body cameras actually help calm conflict. Appelbaum, whose union does not represent Walmart employees but includes employees from retailers such as Messi and H&M, said RWDSU is concerned that body cameras are more about surveillance and deterring theft than making employees safer.
“Workers need to be trained in de-escalation. Workers need to be trained in what to do during hostile situations at work. A body camera doesn't do that. A body camera doesn't interfere,” Appelbaum said. “We need safe employees and we need panic buttons.”
Bianca Agustin, co-executive director of United for Response, a labor organization for Walmart and Amazon employees, said the group has asked Walmart to provide more training to its employees but the company has not met those demands. She said body cameras can be part of the solution, but cameras alone are “no substitute” for proper training.
“There's a claim that body cameras will only promote de-escalation organically. We don't think that's true,” Augustin said. “You're seeing a lot of violence against workers who are already at self-checkout kiosks even when they're trying to (deter theft)… There's a possibility that it could compromise that (deterrence)… and it might even provoke people.”
Plus, “there are already cameras in the stores,” Augustin said.
Bodycams from Motorola Solutions are housed in the docking station.
Klaus Dietmar Gabbert | Image Alliance | Getty Images
David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations at the National Retail Federation, the retail industry's lobbying arm, offered a different view. He said retailers he works with have said body cameras have helped reduce conflict because people behave differently when they know they're being recorded, especially when those cameras are right in front of the person.
“A lot of these body-worn cameras have reverse displays, so… there's a little video screen where you actually see yourself in front of the camera. That in itself can be a very big deterrent,” Johnston said. “The moment you see yourself is probably the moment you change your behavior, and that's what I think using a body-worn camera can do.”
While customers complain about merchandise being trapped in boxes, body cameras are another technology retailers are trying as they look to deter theft and make stores safer, Johnston said.
“Wal-Mart has gotten tremendous exposure,” said Mark Cohen, former CEO of Sears Canada and former director of retail studies at Columbia Business School. “Walmart likely has a sales team that is very dissatisfied with what they are exposed to… (and) they feel the store is not doing enough to protect the store and themselves. This is a test to see if it has any beneficial effects, whether on deterring criminals or mitigating “The anxiety and discomfort of their comrades.”
However, it is not clear whether colleagues will feel better wearing body cameras. One longtime retail employee, who spent about 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 weren't sure body cameras would have stopped it.
“With these people, when they confront us and act like they're going to hit us or threaten to meet us in the parking lot, they're not thinking rationally,” the former said. An employee at the mall, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Even with the camera on them, I don't think they'll care right now.”
Not only would a body camera have made them feel safer in those interactions either, but having police nearby would have helped, the former employee said.
Last year, NRF's annual security survey found that 35% of retailers who responded said they were looking for body cameras for retail employees or loss prevention staff. While none of the respondents said body cameras are fully functional, 11% said retailers are either piloting or testing the solution.
TGX Enterprises He is one of them.
Earlier this year, the budget giant said it had begun using body cameras in its stores, which include TJ Maxx, Marshall's and HomeGoods signs. On a call with analysts after the company reported fiscal first-quarter earnings in May, Chief Financial Officer John Joseph Klinger said the devices were effective in reducing shrinkage, or loss of inventory.
“One of the things we added — we started doing last year, late in the year, is wearing body-worn cameras on our associates (to prevent losses),” Klinger said. “And when someone comes in, it's like a pacification where people are less likely to do something when they're being videotaped. So we definitely feel like that plays a role as well.”
In a statement, a TJX spokesperson said loss prevention associates with body cameras have undergone “comprehensive training on how to use the cameras effectively in their roles.”
“Video footage is only shared at the request of law enforcement or in response to a subpoena. Body cameras are just one of the many ways we work to support a safe store environment. This includes a variety of policies, training and procedures.” The speaker said. “We hope 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.”
