Supermarket Dirk uses body cameras against aggression, watchdog is critical

NOS News•today, 12:37

Dirk van den Broek’s staff will wear body cameras. The supermarket chain hopes to prevent unsafe situations in stores. The development has raised eyebrows at the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP).

Shop employees regularly have to deal with aggression and violence. “For us, the body cameras are an addition to the workplace to quickly de-escalate threatening situations,” says director Marcel Huizing. “Because every incident is one too many for our colleagues and customers.”

The cameras will not be on continuously. Supermarket staff can switch the body cameras on and off themselves in “tense or threatening situations”. The bodycam has a screen that shows what is being filmed. In this way, someone is confronted with his or her own behavior, and that would have a de-escalating effect, the supermarket says

The chain will start using the body cameras in forty stores, after a successful trial in 2023. It is the first store chain to introduce body cameras.

Aggression in supermarkets is increasing, says trade organization CBL. “It really happens often,” says a spokesperson. “Not only verbally, but it also happens that things are thrown at employees or that someone is attacked. Society is hardening, there is much more aggression.”

The entire industry is affected by this, but it is up to the supermarket chains themselves to do something about it. “It is also an unclear boundary where the task of supermarket staff ends and from when the police must be called in.”

Supervisor AP finds it worrying that there are “apparently so many and such serious incidents at Dirk van den Broek that the company finds it necessary to use body cameras”, but the privacy watchdog emphasizes that their use is subject to strict conditions. “We normally only see body cameras among police and boas. Camera surveillance is very invasive. Companies must therefore be very cautious with this.”

The AP will quickly ask the supermarket chain for an explanation. “They must be able to demonstrate that it is necessary.”

The violence is often related to theft. Some supermarkets have recently started using “smart” cameras for this purpose, which can pick up, for example, when someone puts something in a bag. Strict rules also apply to this software.