Walmart has become the most recent retailer known to have some store employees wear body cameras.

The country’s largest retailer has some employees taking part in a body camera pilot program. “While we don’t talk about the specifics of our safety measures, we are always looking at recent and innovative technology used across the retail industry,” Walmart said in a statement to USA TODAY. “This is a pilot we are testing in one trade, and we will assess the results before making any longer-term decisions.”

While some retailers are prioritizing theft prevention with the deployment of body cameras, a person close to the assignment says Walmart is focusing the test on employee safety at a handful of stores involved in the pilot.

A shopper in Denton, Texas shared a photo of a Walmart associate wearing a yellow-and-black body camera earlier this month with CNBC, the information outlet reported.

A photo of body cameras in charging bays reportedly from a Walmart store was posted on Reddit a month ago. The photo includes a poster detailing directions of how to use the camera to record an occurrence if an interaction with a customer is escalating.

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Other retailers piloting body camera use in US stores

Walmart would not be the first retailer to deploy body cameras in the U.S. Earlier this year, TJX, the parent business of T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls, began having some employees at its stores use body cameras.

“It’s almost like a de-escalation where people are less likely to do something when they’re being videotaped,” TJX chief monetary officer John Klinger said in May during the business’s first quarter profits call.

“Body cameras are currently used by sure deficit Prevention Associates, who have gone through thorough training on how to use the cameras effectively in their roles,” TJX said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Video footage is only shared upon request by law enforcement or in response to a subpoena.”

Body cameras are one way TJX creates “a secure store surroundings,” the business said. “We aspiration that these body cameras will assist us de-escalate incidents, deter crime, and demonstrate to our Associates and customers that we receive safety in our stores seriously.”

Body cameras could eventually become a ordinary fixture in stores – and are trending that way in the U.K.

Shoplifting rate boost could navigator to more body cameras in stores

More than one-third (35%) of U.S. retailers in the 2023 National Retail safety Survey, conducted by the National Retail Federation, said they were researching body-worn cameras for employees or deficit prevention personnel. About 11% were already piloting or testing the answer, the NRF found.

Retailers are considering the use of body cameras to protect employees and prevent theft, David Johnston, the National Retail Federation’s vice president of property protection and retail operations, said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Retailers are making every attempt to ensure the safety and well-being of their customers, associates and communities,” he said. “The use of body cameras is still a newer technology being used in retail and person retailers are finding how this technology best works within their environments.”

Theft has become a growing concern for retailers. From 2019 to 2023, shoplifting incidents rose 93% – and the dollar deficit rose 90%, according to a update out today from the NRF, the deficit Prevention Research Council and Sensormatic Solutions.

Some aspiration the body cameras serve as a deterrent. That’s because shoplifters have become more violent and aggressive, according to 91% of the elder deficit prevention and elder executives surveyed. That issue highlights “why retailers are continuously looking at measures to reduce the threat of violence,” Johnston said.

So one of the things that we’ve added, we started to do last year, late towards the year, were body cameras on our LP associates. And when somebody comes in, it’s sort of — it’s almost like a de-escalation where people are less likely to do something when they’re being videotaped. So we definitely feel that that’s playing a role. Also, during the complete of the year, when we look at our reduce results, we’re able to then set our plans for the following year and seeing what worked, what didn’t and so it’s about continuing to lean into the strategies that worked last year. But again, we count our inventory at the complete of the year and that’s when we would be in a position to provide guidance.

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