LONDON – The coffee and bakery chain began trialling body-worn cameras in a select number of shops in London last month. A Pret spokesperson said this was done as a new safety measure. “These are only being worn by team leaders or managers, and are only turned on in specific circumstances,” the spokesperson said.

Signs have been put up in shops conducting the trial to let customers know. The cameras will not always be recording and will only be switched on in specific circumstances. This will be at the discretion of management in-store. Only Pret’s security team will have access to any footage captured, the chain confirmed. Pret a Manger is not the only chain to offer body-worn cameras to staff. Last year, Tesco began offering the cameras to members of staff after it said physical assaults had risen by a third in a year.

The Co-op has installed more than 200 secure till kiosks, locked cabinets for bottles of spirits and AI technology in its supermarkets to monitor self-checkouts after a 44% surge in retail crime last year to about 1,000 incidents a day. (The Guardian) …[+]