Walmart Employees Now Using This Police Tech in Stores
With the rise of gun-related deaths in the U.S., some businesses like Walmart are taking security into their own hands.
On Dec. 17, Walmart announced its latest effort to beef up protecting its customers: Equipping some store employees with body cameras. The move comes after an uptick in shootings and other violent incidents at Walmart stores across the country. There were more than 200 violent incidents at Walmarts in 2023, according to worker rights group United for Respect. And in 2019, a gunman infamously shot and killed 23 people in a Walmart in El Paso.
"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 representative for the company told CNBC. "This is a pilot we are testing in one market, and we will evaluate the results before making any longer-term decisions."
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The new policy didn't come out of thin air, and isn't exactly being implemented for the strict purposes of loss prevention. According to a new study by the National Retail Federation, approximately 91 percent of respondents said that shoplifters are showing more violent and aggressive behavior when compared with five years ago.
A company document outlining how to use the new bodycams tells employees to "record an event if an interaction with a customer is escalating" and to not wear them in bathrooms and employee break rooms, according to CNBC. If an incident happens, employees should discuss it with another team member and log it in the "ethics and compliance app."
Don't be afraid to record as well if you see things getting heated.