Does Walmart have a large room filled with monitors like they do at casinos? They have hundreds of cameras at each store. One employee claims they can zoom in and read the text on a cell phone. I found another article where a corporate tech said the cameras that are at the checkouts use AI to see if items are dropped in a bag without being scanned. There is lots of discussion about security at big box stores but little hard facts. Compounding this is the case that Walmart sells security cameras so most searches just bring up what they have for sale.
They have security cameras, for sure. But only based upon Kroger, no one sits and watches them. They can go back and watch recordings if they need to.
I work at a warehouse but I assume they do the same thing we do, there is a room with about four monitors and each monitor has a different grid of security cameras (about 12 per monitor) . However the room isn’t manned, instead it’s just recording stuff so you can check it out later and occasionally does have someone watching it if they get an alert an employee is stealing or something.
It’s been ages since I shopped in a Wal-Mart but I remember occasionally hearing PA announcements directing somebody in security to monitor and record this or that section number, so I assume they got somebody back there already, who is monitoring or ready to sit down immediately and pay attention.
I wonder now if they do that over the P.A. as a form of intimidation; a smart shoplifter would abandon the attempt right away upon hearing that.
Keeping in mind I do NOT work at Walmart but I do work at a big-box/glorified grocery store:
Not a large room, but there is a room with monitors, any one of which can watch what’s going on on a particular security camera, or a group of them. Mostly stuff is recorded but a certain amount of days/hours of the day there is someone in there and part of what they’re doing is watching the cameras.
Yes, yes they can. They can also read receipts and all sorts of other text if it is in range of the camera.
We sometimes calls it “artificial stupidity” rather than AI but yes, there is AI at work at the self-checkouts and has been for a few years now. Also at the checkouts with humans running a register. Among other things, it’s supposed to nudge us when a customer has stuff at the bottom of the cart so we remember to scan it.
True. And this is not an accident. Big box stores are not going to make their security equipment and procedures public because doing so makes it easier for career criminals and organized crime to steal even more systematically than they already do.
Answered !!
Years ago, I worked for a nationwide chain of department stores. One project was an automated system to identify & exclude banned customers.
How it worked:
- cameras monitored people entering the store.
- Facial recognition software compared the guest to a database of people previously trespassed from any of our stores in the country.
- If matched, a security person was sent to stop the person and ask for ID.
3a) If the ID showed them to be a ‘banned’ person, or if they refused to show ID, they were escorted out of the store.
3b) if they were not the banned person, the security guard apologized, welcomed them to the store, an offered a coupon for a free soda at the store fast food.
I don’t think the system was ever expanded to all stores. There were some problems with it:
- Facial recognition software at that time was not very accurate. (Especially inaccurate with minority race guests.) That might be better now.
- False positives (people stopped who were NOT banned) got very upset about being stopped. That’s why the free coupon was added, but they were still unhappy.
- True positives – people who had been banned got extremely upset, but we didn’t care. Though they did often create a scene and try to damage goods in the store (and local police/prosecutors wouldn’t do anything). But it disturbed our other guests.
- Required extra security guards, or took them away from their regular duties.
- Difficult to quantify savings to cost-justify the investment. (Even though management truly believed that prior shoplifters are likely to steal again.)
I believe this project was abandoned at that time. Maybe today the technology would be good enough to justify it.
Years ago I managed a warehouse. A major external audit “established” that some items were going missing. They proposed the introduction of a security system to eliminate this.
Fortunately, I had a sensible boss. When I pointed out that most of the missing items were probably accounting errors, and that the proposal would cost a lot more than the value of the supposed losses, he abandoned the idea.
Kroger does that too, or at least they did, I don’t recall hearing it recently. It would be something along the lines of “security scan, section A.” Now they have the little 8" screens hanging from the ceiling that will pop up “recording in progress” as you walk by showing the video of you captured by the camera. I’ve heard (no cite) that these are mostly automated/random just to discourage would-be thieves. It’s like ADT security signs in your lawn.
Frankly I would not think a free soda was sufficient compensation.
Especially the ones who didn’t want a soda; who were effectively being offered nothing at all, and on top of that being expected to be pleased about it.
But I expect even people who did want a soda wouldn’t think that was sufficient recompense.
Probably not.
New York State just banned its use in schools; based on multiple reasons, but one of them was
“the potentially higher rate of false positives for people of color, non-binary and transgender people, women, the elderly, and children.”
But they sometimes stop people leaving the store with unbagged items to check the receipt. We don’t get a soda. I want a soda.
One fellow is the door guard many of the times I shop at Walmart. We kinda “know” each other just because I see him a lot. I will occasionally point to the large bag of dog food or something and state, “3rd one I’ve stolen this month” as I sail past on the electric shopper.
AFAIK, they cant stop you legally- except at membership stores. Unless they actually think you are shoplifting.
He probably already knows about it.
A lot of stores have a strict policy that staff are NOT to stop or hinder shoplifters (unless they are part of a designated security team). Why not? Because it’s not worth being hurt or killed.
If someone stops on their way out the door and cooperates that’s great. I think a lot of the time the people who do stop have just forgotten something was on the bottom of the cart or the like, which does happen, and it’s easily fixed. If they don’t, we don’t impede them because you don’t know who is going to get violent.
They can’t stop you. They can revoke your membership
Compensation for what?
What damages could you claim?
how about a free soda AND medium fries?
I bought a bunch of stuff at a Wal Mart. When I unbagged it I noticed a few things were missing. After a few days I went back to customer service and told them I thought I may have left a bag at the checkout. I had the receipt which was date and time stamped. After a short wait the customer service rep came back and said they checked the video tapes and saw that the items were, in fact, taken from the checkout. I didn’t argue. A few days later I discovered that a bag with those items had slipped under my seat. It did surprise me to find out that every checkout transaction is video taped and can be accessed later.
If you’re interested in the camera capability, I believe Bosch provides the CCTV cameras for most Walmarts.
I grocery near me* has had some recent problems with crime and has implemented some very conspicuous security measures. In addition to the blue strobed camera tower trailers in the parking lot and off duty Chicago PD PO near the checkouts, shoppers pass another guard at the entrance watching over two large monitors, each with at least 6 or 8 cams.
*Mariano’s, Park Ridge, Cumberland Ave