# Security cameras at Walmart **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** ai\ **Created:** [September 30, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922 "2023-09-30T20:13:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ChronicBongitis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@ChronicBongitis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChronicBongitis)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/21 "2024-01-05T13:53:06Z")
[This video](https://youtu.be/IKwVHtOmF8c?si=DoM1iv_mfSeRhnWM) shows you what Walmarts system is like if you pay attention to what the Walmart employees and deputies are saying. In the video three women were were caught on video shoplifting from Walmart in Sebastian Florida, but left before they could be arrested. The women then went to a Walmart in Vero Beach Florida and as soon as they walked in range of the cameras loss prevention knew they were there. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/22 "2024-01-06T00:20:52Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > 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. Years ago I forgot I’d stuck one of those big multipacks of papertowels on the bottom of the shopping cart and fortgot about it at checkout time. They had a cutout in the counter that had a camera at the level of the bottom of the cart and they caught it! No biggie. I wasn’t trying to sneak it out. But now it’s AI doing it? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/23 "2024-01-06T00:38:50Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > 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. Since this was nudged, I’d like to point out that career criminals and organized crime are not systematically shoplifting from big box stores, and [recent inflammatory claims about rampant organized retail crime have been retracted by the lobbyist group that made them](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/business/organized-shoplifting-retail-crime-theft-retraction.html). A vast majority of shoplifters do it out of necessity or compulsion, not as a part of some larger scheme. If you want to find organized crime in retail, I’d spend more time looking at inventory leaving out the back door, or never getting delivered at all. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/24 "2024-01-06T00:43:23Z")
Someone hit my car in a Walmart parking lot. They went in a back room to watch video but my car was not in the viewing angle of their cameras although I was out front about 8 cars up. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/25 "2024-01-06T01:00:08Z")
I doubt Walmart cares what happens to your personal vehicle in a public parking lot. There not gonna go deep for you. Now if you were injured and there’s was a court case, I assume the tapes could be confiscated. The security cams are for YouTube People of Walmart videos. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/26 "2024-01-06T08:42:12Z")
> [@Mr.E](#): > > Since this was nudged, I’d like to point out that career criminals and organized crime are not systematically shoplifting from big box stores, and [recent inflammatory claims about rampant organized retail crime have been retracted by the lobbyist group that made them](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/business/organized-shoplifting-retail-crime-theft-retraction.html). A vast majority of shoplifters do it out of necessity or compulsion, not as a part of some larger scheme. If you want to find organized crime in retail, I’d spend more time looking at inventory leaving out the back door, or never getting delivered at all. It is true that _most_ shoplifters are “amateurs” but there are organized groups that shoplift. Including a trio a few years back who would _start fires_ in the store to distract the staff (very effective, actually) and during the ensuing excitement and confusion would grab expensive items and run out the door. Sorry if that came across as some sort of big mafia involvement, because that’s not what’s happening, but there very much are some shoplifters who are organized and working in groups. Then there are the people who have some way of analyzing/forging bar codes and using them to given themselves infinite discounts at the checkout. The small-scale desperate/compulsive are not that big of a threat, but the people who walk in with a plan and work as a team are. Even if the latter are not the majority they do exist. Are there corporations that exaggerate the number and effect of team shoplifting? Yes, there are. But these sorts of criminals do exist. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/27 "2024-01-06T17:55:37Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Then there are the people who have some way of analyzing/forging bar codes and using them to given themselves infinite discounts at the checkout. I always wondered if people cut out the bar codes from cheap items and glue them onto similar items like jackets that can vary a lot in price. I guess if the item had several hang tags like most jackets do you could just switch the one with the bar code. All you would need is one of those guns that insert the plastic arrow thingees. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/28 "2024-01-06T18:03:45Z")
There was a big rash of the tag switching stuff for awhile around here. They concentrated on clearance priced items. That always seemed ridiculous to me. Dang, go big or go home, I always thought. I don’t know how they managed with stuck on stickers it takes a nuclear weapon to get those off at home. I actually look at those if I wanna buy something and think , “will I be able to remove this tag?” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/29 "2024-01-06T18:08:16Z")
People can generate their own tags and stick them to the item. Price tag switching is nothing new and was a thing before bar code readers. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/30 "2024-01-06T18:14:53Z")
For self-checkouts that expect the item to be placed on a tray, it would likely bleep about the unexpected weight. Unless you were just switching clearance Corn Flakes for new Corn Flakes. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/31 "2024-01-06T18:20:05Z")
Two years ago, I had a seasonal job at a nearby Cabela’s store. At that particular place, all the security cameras on the actual sales floor (as opposed to ones placed outside or the warehouse area) fed into monitors in the employee break room. No one was actually tasked with watching them but we often did just because it was great fun watching what stupidity people though they were accomplishing discretely. The stated management reason for these monitors was that the break rook had windowless concrete block walls, solid entry doors and was our shelter for both severe weather and active shooter emergencies - times when you might want to keep an eye on the floor when you need to GTFO. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/32 "2024-01-06T18:23:25Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > unexpected weight. Unless you were just switching clearance Corn Flakes for new Corn Flakes. This fraud is usually done with expensive items like electronics. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/33 "2024-01-06T18:28:47Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > This fraud is usually done with expensive items like electronics. Well, Beck also mentioned people doing it with the clearance junk but the point remains. Yes, people have been switching barcodes for as long as there has been barcodes. In the case of self-checkouts where a scale is involved, there’s an additional point of confirmation that the item is legitimate. I don’t know how many places both sell expensive electronics and have self-checkout. The last time I was at my local Target, they had scales. I don’t know about Walmart or other similar stores. Home Deport perhaps? Not electronics but probably the place I can think of that sells some pretty expensive stuff and lets you self-checkout (and I don’t remember if they use scales or not). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/34 "2024-01-06T21:16:31Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I always wondered if people cut out the bar codes from cheap items and glue them onto similar items like jackets that can vary a lot in price. I guess if the item had several hang tags like most jackets do you could just switch the one with the bar code. All you would need is one of those guns that insert the plastic arrow thingees. We’ve had people making new barcodes with software and using their phones to display the codes to the machines, generating amazingly large discounts. It goes way beyond tag-switching. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/35 "2024-01-06T21:21:56Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > People can generate their own tags and stick them to the item. Price tag switching is nothing new and was a thing before bar code readers. This is true. In the 1990 movie _My Blue Heaven_, Steve Martin’s character uses an old-fashioned pricing gun to get big discounts on steaks. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/36 "2024-01-06T21:26:04Z")
In the early 90s it was either the mayor or one of the city councilmembers of Santa Barbara had to resign over price switching. They were seen by store security changing the tag on a garden tool to lower it by ten dollars or so. Ruined his political career. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/37 "2024-01-06T21:32:25Z")
Stupid criminals around here I guess. Most expensive stuff is locked up or chained to something. Even razors and not so pricey perfumes. Whatever they do some one will get one out of the store w/o paying, eventually. I have always thought employees are the worst of the thieves. I hope I’m incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/38 "2024-01-07T22:16:32Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > For self-checkouts that expect the item to be placed on a tray, it would likely bleep about the unexpected weight. Unless you were just switching clearance Corn Flakes for new Corn Flakes. I think the scam there is to drop a steak on the scale & type in the code for bananas or some other cheap produce, then when you put your steak/bananas in the bag, the bag scale thinks it got the accurate weight so it doesn’t object. Congrats, if no one was looking you just got a $20/lb steak for 99¢/lb but if someone _was_ watching you get yourself the glamor prize! Some new jewelry (two bracelets, interconnected) & a two-picture fashionable headshot photo shoot, along with other ~~prizes~~ costs to be named later. Personally, I’d buy the less expensive chicken as a compromise. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/39 "2024-01-07T22:22:07Z")
I know that Target has a screen above the self-checkout that indicates I’m being watched as I scan my stuff, so I assume they will notice if I try to scan a steak but use the code for bananas. (And actually, I expect that some sort of AI/machine vision would be able to tell the difference.) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2024, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922/40 "2024-01-07T23:39:40Z")
They are getting better and better so a lot of the older scams won’t work anymore. I was at a convenience store and bought four or five items. The clerk put all of the items on a pad and the machine scanned all of them at once. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/security-cameras-at-walmart/990922.md?page=3)