Iceland Foods executive chairman Richard Walker would “happily” trial facial recognition cameras in Iceland and Food Warehouse stores in order to combat soaring levels of retail crime.
The supermarket does not currently deploy the tech, however Walker said he would consider introducing cameras in a “legal, proportionate” way, alongside other measures, unless retailers were given greater powers to deter thieves.
Walker made the comments in a LinkedIn post on Thursday, responding to a House of Lords Justice & Home Affairs Committee report earlier this month, which found retail crime was still “not being tackled properly” by police and the criminal justice system.
The report made 15 recommendations to government, one of which included the creation of guidelines and a best practice guide for the use of facial recognition technology by private businesses, as a way of helping retailers deter would-be thieves.
Although systems can differ, the use of facial recognition by retailers is increasing. Some, like the AI-powered Facewatch system, matches faces against a database of known offenders, and alerts shopkeepers if an offender enters the store. Independent retailer Alex Kapadia has claimed the system led to a 90% reduction in theft at his Morrisons Daily store in Northampton.
Other retailers including Sainsbury’s and Waitrose have been installing screens in high-theft locations around stores. The tech isn’t facial recognition, but shows would-be thieves they are under surveillance.
As part of its own security, Iceland has been adding more cameras and security barriers to its stores. It also now stocks higher-priced items – like lamb joints – in sealed security boxes.
“I will HAPPILY trial and use legal, proportionate facial recognition technology as an effective response to the very real threat my colleagues face,” Walker wrote. The supermarket has not confirmed if it has formal plans to introduce the tech.
‘Urgent reform’ needed to fight retail crime
Incidents of shop theft doubled to 16.7 million last year, according to the 2024 BRC’s Retail Crime Survey. Acts of violence and abuse also rose 50% to 1,300 reported a day. Despite commitments made following the launch of Operation Pegasus on October 2023, 61% of retailers rated police response as poor, up from 44% the previous year, according to the BRC.
In light of those figures, Walker welcomed other recommendations made by the Lords committee to repeal the offence of ‘low-value shoplifting’ as well as proposals to treat assaults on retail workers as a standalone offence as “steps in the right direction”.
However, he called for urgent “further reform”, in particular to give retailers more legal powers to detain thieves, as well as share data about known criminals more widely.
He has previously criticised privacy laws, which he claims stymie retailers’ ability to share information about known criminals on local social media groups.
“The safety of my colleagues is more important than the data protection rights of known offenders,” Walker said, calling on the Information Commissioner’s Office to provide retailers with “confirmation” that they will be able to share images of perpetrators.
Iceland had lost more than £20m worth of stock in a year as a result of crime, Walker told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in September. Incidents of reported assault and abuse against staff had also doubled during that timeframe, he said. In a podcast interview later the same day he said security guards should be equipped with pepper spray and handcuffs like in Spain “where they don’t mess around”.
“Right now, security guards are very limited in their ability to act against brazen, professional criminals who operate without fear of consequence,” Walker said in his latest post.
“Enhanced legal powers – to search and safely detain offenders – would create a stronger deterrent for criminals and help restore safer high streets for everyone.”
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