Body cameras are moving into British retail

ONCE USED largely in law enforcement, body-worn cameras, or bodycams, have become de rigueur for employees who meet the public at their worst: ambulance-drivers, litter-enforcement officers, ticket inspectors and security guards. Now they are coming to retail, where abuse by customers was rising before the pandemic and escalated during lockdowns. According to Usdaw, a shopworkers’ union, 90% of workers were verbally abused in 2021 and 65% were threatened with violence, up from 68% and 43%, respectively, in 2019. Customers got angry when shop workers enforced mask mandates, social-distancing or limits on purchases of toilet paper. Delivery workers suffered too. The pandemic boosted online shopping—and rage when orders were late or incomplete.