Latest news with #bodycams
The Sun
07-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
H&M takes drastic action at 3 major stores with staff to wear BODYCAMS in desperate bid to deter shoplifters
H&M HAS taken drastic action in three major stores as staff are now fitted with bodycams in a desperate bid to deter shoplifters. The popular fashion store is the latest retailer to give its UK staff body cameras to help stop shoplifting and protect workers from attacks. 1 The Swedish clothing giant revealed it had been testing the new technology, according to the Mail on Sunday. The high street brand follows big names like Tesco, the Co-op, and Lidl, all of which have introduced bodycams for their staff. These major retailers said they were forced to take action because the police had failed to respond. Shoplifting rose by 20 per cent from last year, with violent and abusive incidents reported around 2,000 times daily. Criminals - often in organised gangs - have been stealing goods in full view of staff and shoppers, knowing they're unlikely to face any consequences. High street retailers urge their staff not to intervene, fearing they could be attacked. Workers have faced racial and sexual insults, physical threats, spitting, and in some cases, physical violence. H&M will trial the new bodycams in stores in Edinburgh, Wood Green, and Beckton in London. A spokesman for the firm said: "We're testing this new technology in a three-store pilot to assess what beneficial impact it may have, along with proper staff customer service training, on de-escalating and reducing incidents for the safety of both our colleagues and customers." The cameras will be worn on staff uniforms and will record distressing incidents to provide police with video evidence. Moment Co-op worker grabs fleeing shoplifter by the THROAT to stop him making off with arms full of stolen items Superdrug have also issued police-style bodycams and headsets to staff amid soaring levels of violence by shoplifting thugs. Abuse and attacks on shop workers rocketed 50 per cent from 870 to 1,300 incidents-a-day last year, according to a leading trade body. Stores are resorting to desperate measures after the British Retail Consortium blasted 'woefully inadequate' government action to tackle the High Street 'crisis'. The consortium's survey also revealed shoplifting has more than doubled to 16.7 million incidents in the past year, up from eight million. They added: "The cost of theft has soared to almost £1 billion a year." A poll earlier this year found one in six staff workers were physically attacked by abusive customers.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Yahoo
Cape Breton regional police adding cameras for officers, cars and downtown streets
Police officers, patrol cars and even some streets in the former towns of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality are expected to be outfitted with video recording equipment sometime this fall. Bodycams, dashcams and surveillance equipment will make citizens and officers safer and provide better evidence in court cases, Chief Robert Walsh said Tuesday after a meeting of the municipality's board of police commissioners. The street cameras will likely deter some crimes and help police solve others that may have happened or are in progress, he said. "If there was a critical incident such as an armed robbery or an active shooter, our communications centre could access that video livestream in real time, get the information, the images, and provide that detail to our officers in real time, so we have a better situational awareness and a better response for police," Walsh said. The public may have some concerns about privacy, but police will have policies that should alleviate those worries, he said. "The cameras in downtown cores and at key intersections would only be used for an investigative purpose and we want to reassure the public that they are not monitored continuously," the chief said. Bodycams and dashcams will make police operations more transparent, Walsh said. However, he said policies are still being developed on when those cameras can be activated or deactivated by officers. He said guidance on that may be coming from the province. The force is getting quotes for all the cameras this summer. Depending on cost, it plans to buy up to nine dashcams for patrol cars, more than 120 bodycams for officers and up to 50 street surveillance systems. Street cameras will not only go in downtown Sydney, they'll also go up in the former towns of North Sydney, Sydney Mines, Glace Bay, New Waterford, Dominion and Louisbourg. The police budget this year includes about $700,000 for equipment, much of which will be for cameras and software. Walsh has said in a previous interview that the cost of the software includes unlimited cloud-based data storage that will be able to handle video files. CBRM Coun. Glenn Paruch, who chairs the police commission, said the cameras are a good idea. "It's change, but I think change is needed here in the city," he said. Privacy concerns There will always be some people with concerns about their privacy on public streets, but some downtown businesses already have their own cameras trained on their stores. That doesn't seem to deter shoppers, Paruch said. The difference is that police surveillance cameras will only be viewed when a crime has been committed or is in progress, he said. "If there was no incident, they can't just go use that without having proper cause." Walsh said Cape Breton police will use Charlottetown as a model for its camera system. Police there have labelled all street cameras with the city's E-Watch brand to notify the public about the presence of video surveillance. MORE TOP STORIES
CBC
19-06-2025
- CBC
Cape Breton regional police adding cameras for officers, cars and downtown streets
Police officers, patrol cars and even some streets in the former towns of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality are expected to be outfitted with video recording equipment sometime this fall. Bodycams, dashcams and surveillance equipment will make citizens and officers safer and provide better evidence in court cases, Chief Robert Walsh said Tuesday after a meeting of the municipality's board of police commissioners. The street cameras will likely deter some crimes and help police solve others that may have happened or are in progress, he said. "If there was a critical incident such as an armed robbery or an active shooter, our communications centre could access that video livestream in real time, get the information, the images, and provide that detail to our officers in real time, so we have a better situational awareness and a better response for police," Walsh said. The public may have some concerns about privacy, but police will have policies that should alleviate those worries, he said. "The cameras in downtown cores and at key intersections would only be used for an investigative purpose and we want to reassure the public that they are not monitored continuously," the chief said. Bodycams and dashcams will make police operations more transparent, Walsh said. However, he said policies are still being developed on when those cameras can be activated or deactivated by officers. He said guidance on that may be coming from the province. The force is getting quotes for all the cameras this summer. Depending on cost, it plans to buy up to nine dashcams for patrol cars, more than 120 bodycams for officers and up to 50 street surveillance systems. Street cameras will not only go in downtown Sydney, they'll also go up in the former towns of North Sydney, Sydney Mines, Glace Bay, New Waterford, Dominion and Louisbourg. The police budget this year includes about $700,000 for equipment, much of which will be for cameras and software. Walsh has said in a previous interview that the cost of the software includes unlimited cloud-based data storage that will be able to handle video files. CBRM Coun. Glenn Paruch, who chairs the police commission, said the cameras are a good idea. "It's change, but I think change is needed here in the city," he said. Privacy concerns There will always be some people with concerns about their privacy on public streets, but some downtown businesses already have their own cameras trained on their stores. That doesn't seem to deter shoppers, Paruch said. The difference is that police surveillance cameras will only be viewed when a crime has been committed or is in progress, he said. "If there was no incident, they can't just go use that without having proper cause." Walsh said Cape Breton police will use Charlottetown as a model for its camera system. Police there have labelled all street cameras with the city's E-Watch brand to notify the public about the presence of video surveillance.
Malay Mail
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Malay Mail
Fifa introduces ‘Ref Cam' for Club World Cup — but controversial calls won't be shown
MIAMI, June 12 — Referees at this month's Fifa Club World Cup will wear 'body cams' with the footage used in broadcasts of the game — but only if the images are of non-controversial incidents, Fifa refereeing officials said yesterday. The match referees in the tournament will wear a small camera protruding from their earpiece which will be able to generate video from the referees point of view. But while broadcasters will be able to offer unique angles on goals and saves — as well as close-up live video and sound from the pre-match coin toss — viewers won't get to see penalty decisions or other disputable moments from the new camera angle. 'The objective is to offer the TV viewers a new experience,' said Pierluigi Collina, the Chairman of the Fifa Referees Committee. Collina said that IFAB, which sets the laws of the game had allowed a trial of the technology and suggested that footage of controversies might be part of a later phase in the future. 'Let's do things step by step. At the moment... this is a trial. We need to do something new and the simpler the better. So we fixed some rules within a protocol. We will offer these images in the future? Maybe when we learn to run, maybe not, maybe we will do,' he said. The live images will be broadcast via a private 5G network from the ref to the match production team, said Fifa Director of Innovation, Johannes Holzmuller, who said the live aspect would only be available in the six NFL stadiums being used for the tournament. What Club World Cup fans will be able to see are the VAR reviews, as seen by referees on the pitchside monitor, which will be broadcast on giant screens in the stadium. That video will then be followed by the referee announcing the final decision over the public address system and the television broadcast. The tournament will also see the use of 'enhanced semi-automatic offside' technology which will use 16 cameras linked to AI technology and algorithms which will send an audio message to the assistant referee when an offside player touches the ball. The system will likely see the flag raised earlier for offside and reduce cases of play continuing after a clear offside until a later VAR review. The tournament will also be an early introduction of the new law that goalkeepers have eight seconds to release the ball after picking it up — or be punished with a corner. It replaces the previous law that keepers had six seconds to release the ball or give up an indirect free-kick. The goalkeepers will be shown a five second warning by the referee who will count down showing the fingers of one hand. — AFP
