Body cameras reduce violence and theft for UK retailer

Motorola Solutions has announced the successful deployment of its VT100 body cameras to employees across Poundland stores in the UK. Since the pilot, Poundland has reported a decrease in incidents, including an 11% drop in violence against store employees and a marked reduction in shoplifting and theft.

Retail workers in the UK are increasingly concerned for their personal safety, with one in four considering quitting their job, according to Motorola Solutions’ 2024 report on the state of UK retail worker safety, conducted by YouGov. Over half (56%) of retail workers surveyed said they witnessed petty theft in the last year, while 31% have encountered organised crime rings and 50% have experienced hostile customer interactions in the last 12 months.

Earlier this year, the UK Government announced a retail crime crackdown, which includes investments in new technology to prevent shoplifting. Indeed, 70% of shop workers believe body cameras effectively de-escalate dangerous or hostile situations, according to the Motorola report.

Part of Motorola Solutions’ ecosystem of safety and security technologies for enterprises, the VT100 is a small, lightweight and unobtrusive device with a standby battery life of up to six months. The device can live stream for up to 90 min and streams audio and video to a security operations centre or video management software.

In addition to the drop in incidents, Poundland’s Security and Loss Prevention team is reportedly benefiting from having an objective record of events to help conduct investigations. The retailer is using Motorola Solutions’ VideoManager digital evidence management solution to prepare, store and process video data, including the ability to tag and match body camera videos with CCTV footage and other incident data.

“A safer environment for frontline workers and shoppers alike underpins everything retailers do,” said Neil Thomas, Corporate Vice President of Enterprise Sales at Motorola Solutions. “The VT100 empowers in-store staff with the information they need to decisively protect their employees, customers and stores.”