How AI is helping Tenby store ‘make a stand’ against shoplifting

Tindle News

A couple who run one of Tenby’s busiest stores have once again highlighted how AI technology is being utilised to help catch shoplifters, and help traders ‘make a stand’ against retail crime. Vince Malone who took the helm at Tenby Stores & Post Office back in 2014 with his wife Fiona, had previously stated that thieves were costing them £26,000 a year while they struggled to persuade police to take cases forward.  Vince who is also a senior figure at the Fed (National Federation of Independent Retailers) explained to the BBC this month, how AI technology is helping the business to tackle shoplifting. Detailing the technology they installed, which tracks and manages people as they move around the shop, so that if they make a suspicious gesture, it pings up a little video on a mobile phone, allowing the management to immediately take action, Vince explained: “It pings within our ears in about 5 seconds...it allows us then to be proactive in our approach. “It’s given us control back, it allows us to get on the front foot really. “It’s costing us in excess of £5,000 a year, but it’s about us making a stand and saying, do you know what, enough is enough, and this has got to stop! “We’ve got it in as much for people’s safety as well. It’s not about this ‘big brother’ - it’s about us actually saying, as a community, we want to be safe; and it’s about us being proud of where we live,” he continued. In a previous interview with Victoria Derbyshire on BBC’s Newsnight programme, the couple had told the presenter that such matters are not a ‘victimless’ crime and should have stronger ‘consequences’, explaining how shoplifting sometimes occurred daily at the store situated opposite Tenby’s historical town walls. ©BBC

Transcript

00:00Now as the number of shoplifting cases continues to rise, some retailers are

00:05turning to artificial intelligence to try and reduce the number of thefts. Some

00:10civil liberty campaigners have warned against it, but businesses say it's a

00:14useful tool. Our correspondent Jim Connolly has more. For years shops have

00:19been telling us how fed up they are about this type of crime. Vince, the

00:25owner of this place in Tenby, is worried shoplifting is costing his family

00:29business so much it could close the store. A familiar story up and down the

00:34country. So shops like this one are spending thousands of pounds a year on

00:38AI technology to try and track down thieves who are stealing. So let's put it to the

00:43test. So I'm going to grab this bar of chocolate here, I'll put it into my

00:46pocket and see if the cameras and the technology pick it up and I'm going to go

00:50and chat to Vince to see if that's happened. Yeah, there's you. Wow. You stole the

00:54chocolate bar. I mean that's literally about a minute after I did it. Yeah, we're

00:59normally drop onto our phones within about 30 seconds. It pings in our ears

01:02within about five seconds. Really? It allows us then to be proactive in our

01:07approach. If this had been a real life scenario I'd have gone and introduced

01:11myself to you. It's given us control back and it allows us to get on the front

01:17foot really. And how much is it costing you? It's costing us you know in excess of

01:21five thousand pounds a year. But it's about us making a stand and saying you

01:27know what enough is enough and yeah this has got to stop. Some people would be

01:31uncomfortable with the idea of AI and CCTV kind of prying on people in this way.

01:36What would you say to those people? We've got it in as much for people's

01:41safety as well. It's not about this big brother. It's about actually us saying as

01:45a community we want to be safe and it's about us being proud of where we live.

01:49Shops are using all sorts of high-tech solutions. For example some scan faces

01:54against databases of suspected criminals and others track car number plates.

01:58The businesses using the technology say it's really helping them crack down on

02:02shop theft but there are concerns too. We're heading now to meet someone who had

02:06an issue with facial recognition at this shop right here. It's like we've made

02:11retail managers and technology companies judge, jury and executioner with no

02:17legal due process. Jenny was added to a database of suspected shoplifters after

02:22her image was wrongly linked to a theft carried out by someone else. As I turned

02:26around the security guard is standing right over me which I felt that was really

02:34intimidating. So I asked him if he's following me and he said to me yes you're

02:41on face watch. You've obviously stolen something because you've come up on my phone and I turned

02:47around and I said I've never stolen anything in my life. I don't know what you're talking about.

02:52He said I don't care you're on this database. That must have been awful to be accused of

02:56doing something that you hadn't done. I was humiliated, really humiliated.

03:02B&M says the mistake was down to human error and apologised for the incident. Face watch told us it

03:08fully appreciates how distressing it can be to be challenged in a shop but says it wasn't a failure

03:13of its technology adding they immediately suspended the record of Jenny and removed it the following

03:18day. It says its technology helps prevent crime and protect shop workers and customers.

03:24The civil liberty group Big Brother Watch says Jenny's experience is exactly what they're worried about.

03:29It claims members of the public have been put on secret watch lists and then electronically

03:33blacklisted from their high streets. The government told us while commercial facial recognition

03:38is legal its use must comply with strict data protection laws and be used transparently.

03:44Critics want a ban on what they call the general surveillance of the public but many shops tell us

03:49it's use it or go out of business. Jim Connolly, BBC News, Cardiff.

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