bp on Wednesday (17) has announced it is continuing to invest in the security of its retail team members by introducing body worn cameras at stores experiencing higher levels of abuse and crime.
These initiatives are part of bp’s approach to keeping colleagues and customers safe by increasing its capabilities to gather and share relevant intelligence on retail crime with local police and other retailers, as well as implementing store hardening measures and introducing some of the latest advancements in technology to combat retail crime effectively.
Sonya Adams, VP mobility & convenience retail in the UK, says, "Safety comes first at bp; we are always looking at ways we can create a safer working environment for colleagues and a better retail experience for customers. We serve millions of customers every week with the vast majority of transactions being pleasant and positive. However, in line with the rest of the retail sector, we are seeing an increase in crime and abuse of our colleagues, and that’s unacceptable. We will continue to collaborate with others in the sector, and invest in technology like Auror and the Reveal body cameras, to help us combat these issues.”
Auror is being adopted by all of bp’s about 300 company-owned stores over the coming months. It is widely recognised as an industry-leading tool to help reduce verbal abuse incidents and tackle retail crime through enabling swift incident reporting, identification of repeat offenders, seamless collaboration with law enforcement, and real-time alerts on local criminal activities.
Mark Gleeson, Auror VP UK & Europe, says, “Crime fuels some of the worst parts of our society. Regardless of brand or size of the store, the crime occurring in retail isn’t isolated or small-scale crime - in fact it’s 10 percent of offenders causing over 60 percent of the loss and violence in our retail communities. Auror is committed to working with bp across the UK to help connect crime and to stop the impact of criminal networks. For an organisation like bp, that has stores ranging in sizes, creating a safer environment for colleagues with Auror is essential, and we are thrilled to be partnering with bp to enable that.”
The further rollout of Reveal body cameras to bp’s network follows a successful pilot in 2023, when they were tested at eight company-owned stores in the UK facing high levels of verbal abuse. The introduction of the cameras resulted in a decrease in verbal abuse incidents, and collaboration with the local police produced positive results, with several instances of customers apologising for their behaviour as a direct result of seeing their action on the front-facing screens of the Reveal body worn cameras. The body worn cameras are currently in use at 70 company-owned stores across the UK and are being rolled out at pace to more stores with high rates of incidents.
Alasdair Field, CEO Reveal, commented, "The feedback from bp’s retail team members has been overwhelmingly positive during the pilot. As highlighted, Reveal body cameras significantly enhanced their job satisfaction by reducing incidents. Moreover, the cameras greatly improved interactions with security and police, thanks to the invaluable footage for incident reporting. We are proud of how our technology has substantially boosted safety and protection for bp’s retail teams and are delighted to see this extended across bp stores."
