Last week we began to consider what likely cuts (whether in real terms or simply due to budgets not keeping up with inflation) to police and criminal justice might mean for private security, beyond the obvious that private security services might be more called upon. One thing that we might see more of is staff, including non-security, wearing body-worn video.
Body cameras have become common sights on police officers, door and other security staff, and other front-line workers – such as paramedics, as was aired at the National Association for Healthcare Security (NAHS) conference in Birmingham earlier this month, and featured in the December print edition of Professional Security Magazine.
As with any video recording, if it’s to be retained, it needs to comply with data protection law, something covered in the November print edition of the magazine; when the police staff officer behind new guidance, Ian Cocklin, spoke at the Emergency Services Show at the Birmingham NEC in September. Nor – like any other piece of kit – can body-worn be used in isolation; any user, particularly a lone worker, has to be connected,whether by radio or other comms, such as a commercial lone worker app, to raise an alert and request help. That may be in case of a crime and a risk to personal safety, as in retail when a shop worker sees a theft or otherwise feels threatened, such as when opening and closing a store and setting or unsetting the site intruder alarms; or it could be due to a slip or fall.
Central Co-op trialled bodycams in stores in 2021, and its stats from the first six months of 2022 showed significant drops in verbal abuse and threats compared to the previous year. That arm of the Co-op said that the bodycams worked to deter would-be criminals besides carrying out surveillance of volatile incidents. The Co-op was speaking during Respect for Shopworkers Week 2022, an campaign by the shop workers’ union USDAW.
This summer Central Co-op extended bodycams to a further 38 stores after an initial rollout of 50. The retailers says that it continues to listen to staff regarding their safety and security at work. This includes centrally-monitored CCTV that can be activated at the touch of a button and increased use of security guards.
Central Co-op has been a vocal supporter of a change in the legal penalties for assaulting shop workers, including new legislation in which abuse against individuals who serve the public has become an aggravated offence; something brought into law in Scotland.
Store Manager Gillian Evans, who took part in the original trial, said: “All of our colleagues have actually felt a lot safer since the introduction of bodycams. We now have peace of mind that aggressive behaviour can be recorded and handed to authorities if necessary, but we’ve also noticed that their presence defuses situations where tensions may escalate.”
“The training has been incredibly effective and the cameras themselves are easy to use and operate. We even find colleagues requesting them proactively when they’re working, so they’ve really been a useful investment all round. It’s hard to imagine working without them now, and although the vast majority of our shoppers are respectful and law abiding, these body cameras serve as a deterrent and added security when required.”
For more about the Usdaw campaign, including the results of a worker survey, visit https://www.usdaw.org.uk/Campaigns/Freedom-From-Fear.
