Retail giant Walmart recently launched a pilot program in which store employees at some of its U.S. locations wear body cameras, according to a CNBC report.
It’s not clear how many Walmart stores have deployed employee-worn body cameras, but some locations now have signs at entry points warning shoppers that it has “body-worn cameras in use,” according to witnesses and photos posted online, the report says.
The Walmart store in Denton, Texas — about 40 miles north of Dallas — had an associate checking receipts while 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 specifics of our security measures, we are always looking at new and innovative technology used across the retail industry,” a Walmart spokesperson told CNBC in its report. “This is a pilot we are testing in one market, and we will evaluate the results before making any longer-term decisions.”
Why Walmart Launched Its Body Camera Pilot Program
Walmart, which CNBC says is the largest nongovernmental employer in the U.S., is testing body cameras after smaller retailers, including TJX, tried the technology at their stores to try to slow down the upswing in retail theft.
Walmart intends to use the body cameras in its pilot program for worker safety — not as a loss prevention tool, a person familiar with the program told CNBC for its report.
In a document titled “Providing great customer service while creating a safer environment,” Walmart staffers are instructed on how to use the devices, according to a photo of the document posted on an online forum for Walmart employees and customers, the CNBC report says.
It instructs employees to “record an event if an interaction with a customer is escalating” and to not wear the devices in employee break areas and bathrooms. After an incident occurs, staffers are told, they are to discuss it with another team member, who can help them log the event in the “ethics and compliance app,” according to the report.
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