Coop spends £200k on staff bodycams to combat abuse
Retail and pharmacy staff at Lincolnshire Coop stores are being issued with body cameras in the face of increasing levels of threats, abuse and violence.
The move comes after a successful trial earlier this year in four locations – Sincil Street Food Store and
Monks Road Food Store in Lincoln, Birchwood Pharmacy in Lincoln and Woodville Road Food Store in Boston.
The society, which operates in Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and surrounding counties, says it has seen a 245 per cent increase in incidents of threats and abuse to colleagues in the past five years. In the last year, there has been 127 incidents reported in food stores and 23 in pharmacies.
To help tackle this rising issue, the body cameras are being rolled out in all Lincolnshire Co-op’s 99 food stores and 44 pharmacies as part of a £200,000 investment.
Security Manager Mark Foulds said: “We have had positive feedback from the trial sites with colleagues telling us the body cameras helped them to feel more confident and secure.
“The cameras are front-facing so show the customer what the colleague sees, which we believe may help with de-escalating incidents or make people think twice about what they are doing and how they are treating our colleagues.
“They also record both video and audio which we can share with relevant authorities when we believe a crime has taken place.”
Mr Foulds said that incidents vary and can include abusive and foul language, threats against colleagues or their families and in some cases, physical attacks.
“The vast majority of our customers are polite and respectful, but there are a minority whose actions are unacceptable,” he said. “This not only impacts on our colleagues – who are simply trying to provide the best service they can to our communities – but it can also impact on our other customers, who can find these incidents distressing and who don’t want to see our colleagues treated in that way.”
Mr Foulds said that age-related sales refusals and shoplifting are two particular flashpoints.
“Our teams have a responsibility to enforce the legal requirements around age-related sales for products like cigarettes, vapes and alcohol but regularly face abuse and threats from customers when asked for ID, or when a sale is refused,” he said. “We have also seen a 37 per cent rise in shoplifting in the past year, which is another trigger.”
In pharmacies, incidents have arisen over prescriptions, often due to delays in other parts of the NHS network, or medication availability.
“There are various brands of prescription medication, and we have had several occasions when abuse has happened after we have prescribed the correct generic drug, but not what the patient expected to receive from their GP,” added Mr Foulds.
There are a range of other security measures in place in Lincolnshire Co-op outlets. These include security guards in some locations, CCTV monitored by central service desk, and personal attack alarms.
In food stores, teams use headsets to communicate with colleagues, which can be a deterrent. Banning orders can be used against known perpetrators and the security team also works closely with local police forces to pursue Criminal Behaviour Orders against prolific offenders.