Will Southern California Walmart employees be wearing body-cameras?

At a time when many consumers are already frustrated with retailers locking seemingly run-of-the-mill products behind glass barricades, Walmart stores has taken it a step further and put body-worn cameras on their employees.  

While the pilot program is reportedly in its early stages and only being tested in one market – Denton, Texas, which is about 40 miles north of Dallas – according to reporting from CNBC, Walmart customers in Burbank had mixed feelings about the thought of being recorded by employees while roaming the aisles.  

“I think it’s a little bizarre,” customer Paige Lucas told KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell. “I don’t want someone following me with a camera while I’m getting groceries.”  

On the other end of the spectrum, customer Kimberly Love said she has no problem with the body-worn cameras.  

“That’s fine because people shouldn’t be stealing anyway,” she said. “I’m okay with that.”  

The nation’s largest retailer said the pilot program is not just about deterring theft but also about keeping employees safe from increasingly aggressive customers.  

“If there is an incident or a legal situation that arises in a store, like a dispute between an employee and a customer, the body camera can help capture what actually happened,” Business Analyst and Attorney Parag Amin told KTLA.  

Whether or not body-worn cameras might aid in calming down an irate customer during a confrontation is unclear, though Stuart Applebaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union told CNBC that cameras won’t do that.  

“Workers need training on de-escalation,” he told the outlet. “Workers need training on what to do during a hostile situation at work.”  

As for Parag, he added that recording customers inside a retail marketplace is nothing new.  

“The reality is every time we go shopping there are cameras,” he said. “So, we know that we’re being recorded.”