Shop staff get body cams as attacks rise

 Shop workers are wearing body cameras amid a rise in attacks on retail staff, the British Retail Consortium has said.

Some retailers equip shop floor staff with cameras as a “deterrent” and to gather evidence, the BRC told The Daily Telegraph.

The measures came to light as the BRC revealed in its annual crime survey that violent attacks against shop floor workers resulting in injury doubled in 2017 to six per 1,000 members of staff.

The figures also showed the total cost of retail crime climbed to £700million in 2017, up 6 per cent from the previous year. Shoplifting was up 15 per cent, the largest cost at £65million.

Helen Dickinson, the BRC chief executive, said: “The figures on violence present a deeply concerning picture. Attacks on retail workers are intolerable. Our members are clear that keeping staff safe … is their first priority.”