All retailers want footfall, but not at the expense of safety, says Steve Emberton, Fire & Security Product Manager.
As the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart’s name is never far from the business pages. However its size and profile mean that it also often crops up in the news sections of the world media, but for all the wrong reasons.
The latest blitz of media coverage follows the tragic death of a temporary worker at the Green Acres Mall on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when big sales traditionally bring out equally big crowds. This year, with the global credit crunch in the air, the crowds were of such a size that 34-year-old Jyimtai Damour was literally trampled to death under the feet of bargain-hungry shoppers as he unwittingly stood between them and some cut-price DVDs.
The result: Wal-Mart now faces a legal suit from the worker’s relatives whose lawyer is already arguing that the store, 20 miles east of Manhattan, lacked adequate security to handle the crowds.
Retailers should learn from this tragic lesson: It is ultimately their responsibility to minimize risk when that risk is largely of their making. Putting greatly-reduced goods in front of consumers who are already tightening their belts is likely to generate frenzied behaviour.
The same retailers should be able to counter the argument by being able to demonstrate that its security staff were trained to the highest standard and that any technology engaged was fit for purpose. In other words, Wal-Mart must be able to demonstrate an audit trail that it did everything possible to make sure that its staff and customers were safe at all times.
The technology does already exist to help prevent such tragedies. CCTV has come a long way from the days of grainy, black and white analogue images trained on the shop floor. CCTV over IP rather than through expensive cabling means that today’s 360o colour digital cameras can literally be moved around the store as plug and play devices. At peak times, in particular the festive season and the January sales, such cameras can be located near crowd hot spots to optimize crowd control.
Similarly, video analytics can be integrated into the same cameras to intuitively interpret behaviour and react accordingly. For example, is the person lingering too long at the perfume counter sniffing out a bargain, or checking out the security system in order to make a get-away? Video analytics can assist in staff optimization by allowing new tills to be opened when queues start forming at the checkouts.
Our own DigitalSENTRY technology offers ‘Active Alert’ where exceptional behaviour is recorded and highlighted, making it easier for security staff to respond to time-sensitive incidents. Our own training video on this technology shows a crowded shopping mall where an elderly lady trips and falls. Staff monitoring the banks of CCTV screens is immediately alerted by a change of colour on the screen, which allows security staff on the ground to run to her assistance. Similarly, in a busy airport waiting area, unattended bags can be easily identified and dealt with accordingly.
With audio support, live monitoring and recorded playback, security staff can therefore easily identify potential flashpoints. Other key features include easy administration including the ability to create a library of pre-configured settings that make set up easier than ever.
DigitalSENTRY includes IP camera integration. The AXIS camera and servers can seamlessly integrate with a new generation of IP cameras – iPIX – to provide a 360 degree recorded non-functional camera. Operators can pan, tilt and zoom through live, recorded or exported video directly from within the DigitalSENTRY interface. In addition, multiple operators can simultaneously monitor views from a single command view.
This represents the future of security technology and provides an operator with electronic eyes in more places than ever before as well as highlighting specific pre-programmed incidents for them as they occur. The Active Alert and iPIX camera mean retailers can see and interpret images more effectively, and not just those where the cameras are pointing. It is an all round security advantage, literally providing all round security.
It is such technology that will make the tragic case of Mr Damour less likely in the future and will provide retailers with the necessary audit trail to prove that they had the right systems in place and thus avoid lengthy and costly legal actions that have a negative impact upon their brand.
