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By Arthur Walsh

Boots has rolled out body-worn cameras to a further 225 stores in a bid to tackle violence and aggression towards staff.

The multiple announced last Friday (August 26) that an initial trial involving 83 stores had led to a reduction in the number of aggressive incidents against team members, with Birmingham stores taking part in the Safer City programme seeing a 68 per cent reduction.

The cameras “act as a visual deterrent which prevent incidents escalating,” said Boots.

The company described the use of body cameras as “part of a wider effort from Boots to support its team members and prevent incidents of retail crime in its stores”.

It has also introduced panic alarms, a new CCTV monitoring centre unit and headsets for staff “to allow faster communication across its largest stores”.

Iona Blake, security and incident manager at Boots, said: “We’re pleased that introducing body-worn cameras is helping to make our stores a safer place to work and shop.

“Store that consistently wear their devices have seen around a 45 per cent reduction in incidents, but what’s even more compelling is hearing how much safer and more confident our team members feel when wearing them.”