Hourly retail workers are now wearing police-like body cameras
Criminal justice expert John Eck sees body cameras as fact finding resource
Security workers at the large retail operation TJX — the parent company of TJMaxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls —will soon be wearing body cameras, much like those used by law enforcement, says a CNN article.
The extra “eye” in the store is meant to deter shoplifting, but some employees and retail crime experts see it as redundant since there are already cameras in most retail stores — which criminals already know.
John Eck, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati, says the cameras could provide a way to settle disputes about what occurred in the store.
Body cameras in retail, he told CNN, “can help sort things out” when there are customer complaints over issues like racial profiling in stores or wrongful arrests for shoplifting.
TJX is the first retail operation to publicly announce the use of body cameras, but many other, unnamed retailers are on board with the idea, the article states.
Feature image at top: iStock/erstik
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
Scientists discover how snakes stand upright without limbs
April 3, 2026
Smithsonian magazine highlights a study co-authored by UC Professor Bruce Jayne, an expert in snake locomotion, about how snakes stand upright without arms or legs.
UC CubeCats satellite makes hiss-tory at NASA
April 2, 2026
UC Students Launch First Satellite April 8. Help Send Bearcats to NASA Liftoff as they make history for UC and Ohio.
UC design student works with sports greats in co-op
April 2, 2026
Spectrum News profiles UC College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning communication design student Jayden Balwally, who had an internship with the Oklahoma City Thunder and worked with the Heisman Trophy Trust and the College Football Playoff.