When you are shopping in a Walmart store, you might be forgiven for mistaking an employee for a plainclothes police officer. That’s because they might be wearing a body camera.
CNBC reports that some employees in some stores may soon wear bodycams in response to rampant theft and occasional violence directed toward the staff. The network's report was based on comments from shoppers and photographs posted online.
In one photograph, a sign is visible that informs shoppers “body-worn cameras in use." For its part, Walmart isn’t revealing much.
“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. “This is a pilot we are testing in one market, and we will evaluate the results before making any longer-term decisions.”
That one store may be in Denton, Texas. CNBC said a shopper at that store shared a photo of an employee who wore a body camera.
It’s not clear if Walmart will expand the program to other stores or how it will gauge the program's effectiveness. A person familiar with the program told CNBC that the goal is to ensure worker safety, not to deter theft.
