There have been 50,338 incidents of violent crime against convenience store workers in the UK in the last year, 25% of which resulted in injury. In a recent consultation with the government, store workers reported incidents of spitting, biting, armed robbery and racial abuse among the criminal behaviors they faced. It affects all retailers, just check Co-Op's hashtag #ItsNotPartOfTheJob on Twitter to reveal hundreds of cases of store workers being abused in the line of duty. Retailers have seen these issues only exacerbated by the pandemic, as issues like panic buying and controversy surrounding face mask enforcement create tensions between store workers and some in the industry. public. As they continue to work hard to keep the community going, it's paramount to take bigger steps to protect employees, and luckily, easy-to-use technology can play a big part in addressing the issue. crime and retail violence.
The case of cameras worn on the body.
Thinking of body cameras, most people imagine that they are worn by police officers. They are worn on the officer's uniform while on patrol, capturing what they see to facilitate future searches while ensuring greater accountability and transparency in law enforcement. It may seem surprising that the use of technology is spreading to retail businesses, where fixed video surveillance is already playing a similar role in crime prevention. But in response to increased violence against retail workers, 250 cooperative stores have equipped their staff with body cameras, which can trigger real-time audio and visual recording that is remotely monitored by their partner. security - Mitie. Staff can activate body cameras as incidents arise, providing an objective view of a situation and clear evidence of retail crime as it occurs or in progress. cases of violence or verbal abuse against staff. However, body cameras can also help create solutions that ensure the long-term safety of retail staff and the community at large. By analyzing the scope, severity, and characteristics of crime in local stores, it becomes easier to define the prevalence of crime types in specific locations. This, in turn, can lead to better police resources, policies and services more focused on the social circumstances that lead to crime, rather than simply increasing the number of successful prosecutions, a strategy advocated in a recent report by Police Research. University of London. . Therefore, our partnership with the cooperative as a supplier of market-leading VT100 body cameras has three objectives: to help reduce the incidence of crime against retail workers by acting as a deterrent when crime could occur. committed, but also by providing the images and data necessary to secure prosecutions while working towards a sustainable reduction in crime. Last but not least, cameras increase frontline staff safety and their feeling of being protected and valued by their employer.Invest in crime prevention
The British Retail Consortium has estimated that between 2018 and 2019, the combined cost of crime prevention and retail crime related losses reached £1.900bn. This highlights the need to invest in crime reduction, where video technology plays a critical role in meeting the immediate priority of protecting frontline workers. But to be effective, such investment must be part of a comprehensive, long-term strategy to tackle retail crime. Preventing everyday crime in the community requires the kind of humane judgment and empathy that no technology alone could replace. But if the administrative burden of filtering through CCTV and body camera footage takes a disproportionate amount of time for public safety workers, then they are less able to be present in the community, resulting in costly inefficiency. UK police forces use artificial intelligence tools like CommandCentral Aware that support image analysis, such as that captured by body cameras, and present key information to help save countless hours of human time. This allows more police officers to take up public roles where they are needed most: in the heart of communities where crime is most prevalent. Investing in such technology now can help ensure long-term security for the future, creating a more contextualized approach to vast expanses of data that help fight crime as it occurs. and provide information to inform future prevention policies. Then we see that in the future of preventing retail crime, among other anti-social behavior, AI analytics is invaluable. AI should not be responsible for making decisions, but for recognizing and interpreting emerging images that allow stores to better understand risks and police to better address crime in the community. Body cameras are now being used to make everyday retail workers safer, deter abuse, and help ensure the prosecution of violent offenders. They also contribute in the long run to creating a broader context of how and why crime occurs in communities, so that it can be addressed with the ultimate goal in mind: creating safer communities, not just for the sake of it. retail workers, but for everyone.- Richie McBride is director of business operations, video and analytics at Motorola Solutions UK.