Sainsbury’s Expands Facial Recognition Tech As More Neighbourhood Police Tackle Retail Crime

Retailers across England and Wales have welcomed an additional 2,400 neighbourhood police officers to protect communities and challenge a rise in retail crime which has prompted Sainsbury’s to extend its trial of facial recognition technology in London. 

Image: Sainsbury's

Interim results from a recent survey by retail trade union Usdaw found that 71% of shop workers have faced verbal abuse and more than half have been threatened. The British Retail Consortium, meanwhile, has reported there are 2,000 incidents of violence and abuse across UK retailers every day. 

With incidents of aggression, theft, and intimidation continuing to rise, Sainsbury’s is extending the use of facial recognition technology to five further London stores, describing the expansion as "intentional and transparent”.

“The early results have been encouraging,” the retailer explained in a press release. “Trial stores saw a 46% reduction in theft, harm, aggression and antisocial behaviour and 92% of offenders did not return, meaning fewer frightening moments for colleagues and a more reassuring experience for customers.”

Sainsbury’s has made a series of investments to improve in-store safety in recent years, having led the way as the first UK retailer to roll out colleague-worn cameras in 2018. 

Since then, Sainsbury’s has strengthened its protective measures with security officers, in-store detectives, entry barriers, protective screens and enhanced product security.

More Police Patrols In Neighbourhoods

The Home Office said communities in England and Wales will see more uniformed officer patrols to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in shopping areas and neighbourhoods. 

The move has been welcomed by retail trade bodies Usdaw and the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).

Almost 2,400 additional police and community support officers have been brought into neighbourhood police roles over the last six months.

The surge in numbers marks a significant step towards delivering the government’s neighbourhood policing guarantee. 

This includes a pledge to double police personnel in neighbourhood roles, with an additional 13,000 by the end of this parliament. 

Welcoming the progress, Usdaw’s general secretary, Joanne Thomas, said the investment adds to Labour’s extensive action to tackle retail crime.

“The Crime and Policing Bill will deliver a much-needed protection of shop workers’ law; end the indefensible £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters, which has effectively become an open invitation to retail criminals; along with Criminal Behaviour Orders,” Thomas explained.  

“There is also new funding to tackle the organised criminals responsible for the increase in shoplifting. It is our hope that these new measures will help provide the respect retail workers deserve,” added Thomas.

ACS strongly welcomed the government’s ongoing plan to put more police on the streets in order to keep communities safer. 

“Retailers are already noticing the difference in the local police presence in their communities and the relationships that they’re building with neighbourhood policing teams, but this momentum must be backed up by the rest of the justice system,” noted ACS chief executive James Lowman. 

“When crimes like theft and abuse in store are reported, they should be investigated and the criminals responsible must be put on a path to stop the cycle of reoffending,” Lowman said.