Albert Heijn guards to wear body cameras amid surge in violence against employees
Supermarket chain Albert Heijn is launching a pilot program using body cameras on security guards in response to thousands of annual reports of aggression and violence against its employees, Het Parool reports.
The trial will begin in four stores in the centers of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. If successful, Albert Heijn plans to expand the use of body cameras to additional stores — but only those that employ security guards.
"The vast majority of our millions of customer contacts proceed without problems, but still too many incidents occur. We find that very worrying," Sonja Boelhouwer, director of stores and logistics at Albert Heijn, said.
Only hired security personnel, not regular supermarket staff, will wear body cameras. The company deliberately chose to use security guards because they have received additional specific training on working with body cameras.
Earlier, rival supermarket chain Dirk announced plans to use body cameras, but those will be worn by supermarket employees.
Security guards will activate the cameras only when an incident occurs in the store. They will announce that they are filming, and the person causing the disturbance will be able to see exactly what is being recorded on a screen.
"That is not only transparent, but often seeing what is being filmed already has a de-escalating effect. Also, just wearing the body camera and announcing that filming is taking place often has a de-escalating effect," Boelhouwer said.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority has urged stores to be cautious about using body cameras, noting their major impact on customers' privacy and freedoms.
A spokesperson said the devices should only be deployed in exceptional cases when employee safety cannot be ensured by other means.
Albert Heijn acknowledges that "privacy is a very sensitive point." "But we have still made this consideration because of the safety of our staff and other customers," Boelhouwer said. The company maintains that its use of body cameras falls within the frameworks set by the authority.
