Retail Workers Issued Body Cameras To Combat Theft

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Sound & Video Contractor

AV is becoming more prevalent in the retail sector in an unexpected way, thanks to major retail stores now outfitting employees with body cameras. TJX, the parent company of chains TJ Maxx and Marshalls, is aiming to combat rising rates of theft from stores by using body cameras as a deterrent. TJX says that body cameras will not only deter shoplifters but also provide employees and customers with an enhanced level of safety.

The chains have begun utilizing the recently released Axon Body Workforce camera, which is marketed towards retail and healthcare applications. Axon says that the new camera features real-time integration with the company’s operations and evidence management technology.

“Public safety is about just that — people feeling and being safe in public, including while at work,” said Axon CEO and Founder Rick Smith. “That’s why Axon Body Workforce is so critical to our mission to protect life. It marks a new chapter in body-worn cameras, built to address the workplace violence affecting frontline workers.”

Former Chief of the Dallas Police Department Renee Hall commented, “The new Axon Body Workforce body-worn camera is not only useful for promoting frontline workers’ safety but also aids law enforcement agencies responding to the recent rise in violence in healthcare, retail, and other commercial settings by providing easily accessible digital evidence.”

Response to the new initiative has so far been mixed, with CNN reporting that an anonymous TJ Maxx employee told them the job of the unarmed security wearing the camera “was to just stand there with the tactical vest labeled ‘security,’ and the camera mounted on the vest…It feels like the implementation of this program with the cameras isn’t meant to achieve anything, but rather just something the company can point to.”

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