Supermarket Co-op equipping staff in Birmingham with body cameras after assaults and abuse

The retailer says over 10,000 incidents have been reported so far this year including 72 assaults and 879 cases of verbal abuse and threats.

Central England Co-op is rolling out colleague body cameras to over 50 stores following a successful trial designed to keep staff safe and help drive down crime in stores

The retailer, which has over 260 stores across 16 counties, initially trialled use of the technology in two of its Birmingham stores.

Now, due to its positive impact, it will be rolled out across other stores across the business in an effort to deter threats and acts of violence towards colleagues and security guards.

Stores included are based in Stafford, Leicester, Nuneaton, Castle Donington, Derby, Peterborough and other parts of Birmingham.

This follows recent figures from the retailer showed that over 10,000 incidents have been reported in stores so far this year including:

Some examples of incidents have included colleagues being punched in the face by shoplifters, verbal abuse, severe damage to stores, armed robberies and attempted thefts includes batons, used needles and knives.