Leveraging body worn cameras in retail: a new layer of safety and security

Across the globe, however, Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) have shown to be an effective tool in a variety of contexts with respect to deescalating situations and preventing aggressive behavior. Law enforcement has been leveraging this technology for over a decade. For instance, a 2012 study showed officers in Rialto, CA using BWCs were less likely to use force and experienced a significant drop in complaints. Multiple meta-analyses since then indicate that BWCs generally yield positive outcomes for police departments.

In an effort to continue evaluating the efficacy of BWCs in the retail environment, Adrian Beck recently ran a study with 16 participants. You can read the full report for more details on the research, but in this article we will focus on the four main reasons that retailers are considering Body-worn cameras.

The four main reasons for investing in Body Worn Cameras:

1) Body-worn cameras act as a highly visible tool for deterring perpetrators and de-escalating incidents.

As highlighted by Beck, “public self-awareness” serves as one of the strongest cases for BWCs. In a retail context where BWCs are involved, both sides of the interaction are aware that a camera is capturing current behavior. The data suggests this is likely to result in eased tensions because the proximity of the camera promotes greater accountability.

To support this point, one respondent in the study shared a specific incident:

“We had an example in [name of store] where a customer was trying to get a refund and began swearing
at the staff. She then saw the camera and walked away. A little later she returned to apologise, and staff
had never seen this before and believe it was because of the camera [BWC]. People don’t want to end
up on TV and they think it played on her mind to the point where she came back and apologized.“

2) Body-worn cameras provide reassurance and support to employees.Professor Beck’s study found that 66%-80% of staff felt safer because of the introduction of BWCs. This has helped retailers feel more confident when it comes to intervening during suspicious situations. Here is how one respondent explained it:

“some [staff] said that when wearing the camera they were more likely to intervene when they saw something suspicious and greater confidence when dealing with an incident because they know their actions are being recorded and offenders cannot misconstrue what has occurred…”

3) Body-worn cameras gather sharable evidence on offenders and a record of what occurred.

While participants in our study indicated that BWCs’ ability to serve as a proactive de-escalation tool is a compelling reason for deployment, this technology still has extreme benefit when de-escalation is not possible.

Retail staff will encounter different types perpetrators; professional thieves or disruptive guests suffering from substance abuse/mental health issues are often undeterred by the notion of being recorded. Therefore, BWCs serve as an important evidence collection mechanism, and that evidence plays an important role in ongoing staff safety, police investigations, and for prosecution.

4) Body-worn cameras positively influence the behavior of those wearing the devices.

While some respondents in the study noted this is more of a marginal benefit, others noted it did mediate the behavior of wearers in a positive way, particularly those who are security staff. One respondent in our study mentioned that:

‘What we have seen is that staff have admitted that it does change how they behave because they know they are on camera as well; it has moderated their behavior’

The key is to educate wearers on how footage can potentially be used as evidence, therefore thorough training on appropriate behavior when responding to an incident is critical.

Deployment of body-worn cameras

Overall, Beck’s study found that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to implementing this technology in a retail setting. Developing clear guidelines about when and where to use BWCs is beneficial for staff in order for them to be most effective. For example, staff must be aware that body worn cameras won’t be used to monitor performance or be active in bathrooms and that adoption is solely in the interest of staff safety.


Ultimately, management must determine the best practices and policies to facilitate buy-in and drive better safety outcomes by utilizing this technology. All of our respondents provided insightful qualitative and quantitative data that suggests BWCs are not only a powerful tool within retail settings, but can be viewed as a piece of a larger safety “toolkit” when leveraged in conjunction with CCTV, SOCs, and more.

To learn more about best practices and the benefits of Axon Body Workforce, download our whitepaper.