TJ Maxx and Marshalls employees wear police-style body cameras | Here’s how it works

In large stores, security guards who work hourly in the retail market now wear body cameras similar to those worn by the police.

Retail giant TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, announced it is equipping some store employees with body cameras to prevent shoplifting and ensure the safety of customers and employees.

TJX Chief Financial Officer John Klinger introduced the body cam initiative on a conference call last month. “It’s almost like a de-escalation because people are less likely to take action when they’re being filmed,” he said.

TJX is not alone. In a National Retail Federation survey of major retail chains last year, 35% of U.S. retailers said they were considering body cameras for their employees. The Taser device maker and other security companies are now developing and marketing body cameras specifically for retail employees.

Although retailers say they want to reduce costly merchandise losses and ensure safety in their stores, equipping employees with body cameras will do little to prevent shoplifting, some criminologists say. Labor advocates say better training, better store staffing and other investments in security will further help protect store employees and reduce shoplifting.

An employee at a TJ Maxx retail store in Florida said the body cameras are “just for show” and their presence does not make employees feel safe.

The job of those security guards was to “just stand there with the tactical vest that said ‘security’ and the camera mounted on the vest,” said the employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

“It feels like implementing this program with the cameras isn’t meant to accomplish anything, it’s just something the company can point to” to say it improves security.

Loss prevention staff

Last year, TJX ordered its hourly unarmed security guards, called loss prevention associates, to wear body cameras in certain stores.

The TJX employees who wear the cameras are “thoroughly trained on how to use the cameras effectively in their role,” a TJX spokesperson said. The company only releases video footage upon request from law enforcement or in response to a subpoena.

“Body cameras are just one of the many ways we ensure a safe store environment,” the spokesman said.

The company did not provide further details about the training or say when the cameras would be turned on.

TJX is one of the few retailers that talks publicly about body cameras, posting job openings with specific details about the cameras in the job description.

The main responsibilities of a job at Marshalls in Miami Beach, Florida, include maintaining a “decent and professional demeanor” in front of the store, acting as a “visual deterrent to prevent potential loss/dishonesty,” and wearing a company-issued body camera. The description states that the camera is designed to record “certain critical incident events for legal, safety, and training purposes.”

These employees, who wear a company-approved black vest, black pants and black shoes, are instructed not to stop or pursue shoplifting suspects.

A rising trend

Retail is responding to thefts in stores and violence against employees.

Many retailers are reporting an increase in organized theft, which typically involves groups of thieves stealing merchandise from stores. About 90 percent of asset protection specialists surveyed last year by the National Retail Federation said the risk of this crime had increased over the past three years and that shoplifters had become more violent.

However, there is no accurate national data on organized retail crime, and some analysts believe the threat of theft to retailers is exaggerated.

Body cameras are just the latest of many security measures retailers have taken, including locking products behind glass cases and removing self-checkout lanes. Retailers are also working more closely with police and devoting more internal resources to solving thefts.

In the UK, Tesco, Lidl and other grocers have equipped their staff with body cameras. Bakery chain Greggs has equipped its staff with body cameras following a rise in sausage roll thefts and threats from customers.

Axon Enterprise, owner of Taser and primarily a developer of technology and products for law enforcement, launched a “body workforce” camera for retail and healthcare workers this year.

These cameras are lighter than the ones Axon is developing for police because they don’t record for as long and use less battery power, Axon President Joshua Isner said at an analyst conference last month. They are also a “more inviting product” and not something like a military-style camera worn by police officers, he said.

“We believe retail is an emerging market for body cameras,” he said. “We believe this is a logical extension of the direction our business is heading.”

The company told CNN that dozens of retailers are testing Axon’s body cameras, including major chain stores and specialty retailers. Axon did not name any specific chains.

One retailer that conducted tests saw 53% fewer incidents thanks to the cameras than in stores where employees did not wear cameras, the company said.

Series of concerns

Over the past decade, police departments have equipped their officers with body cameras to improve public accountability.

John Eck, a criminologist at the University of Cincinnati, said body cameras in retail can “help clear things up” when there are customer complaints about things like ethnic profiling in stores or wrongful arrests for shoplifting.

Despite TJX and Axon’s claims, some criminologists say body cameras are unlikely to provide an additional deterrent to shoplifters who already know there are cameras in stores.

“I don’t know how much this will catch someone in the act. They already assume they’re being filmed,” said Ernesto Lopez, a research specialist who has studied shoplifting trends at the Council on Criminal Justice.

Body cameras could help retailers or police identify shoplifters, but this would require employees wearing the cameras to approach a suspect, potentially putting their safety at risk.

“I would be very cautious about putting underpaid and poorly trained people in these positions,” said Thaddeus Johnson, a senior research fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice. “We have to be very cautious when we talk about body-worn cameras.”

Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Owners Union, said: “It is not enough to simply strap a camera to someone’s chest and claim that this is an alternative to more comprehensive security measures.”

The union, which does not represent TJX stores, is pushing for a New York law that would require retail companies to implement a violence prevention plan and train their employees in de-escalation and how to deal with shootings. The law would require large employers to install panic buttons in all stores.

Appelbaum also expressed concern about the information the body cameras collect and whether it could be used to thwart union organizing efforts.

“Employees feel like they are being monitored,” he said.

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