A majority of American retail workers (57%) reported feeling unsafe going into the peak holiday shopping season, according to Motorola Solutions’ second annual U.S. Retail Worker Safety Report. Many retail managers and staff surveyed said they have experienced increases in various forms of crime in their stores in the past year. The most common incidents reported were petty theft (66%), grab and runs (48%) and hostile customer interactions (46%). One in 10 also said they have experienced physical attacks from customers.
More than 65% of retail workers said they expect to be understaffed this holiday season and this impacts how safe they feel going into peak shopping. Two out of three respondents (68%) who expect their stores to be understaffed said they don’t feel safe and 50% said they are concerned for the safety of their shoppers.
More than 20% of those surveyed said public safety personnel such as police, EMS and fire are being called to their stores at least once per week, an increase of 16% over 2023. Emergency personnel are called to stores 2-3 times per month for 17% of respondents.
Respondents pointed to access control systems (35%), license plate readers (32%), panic buttons (32%) and body cameras (20%) as measures that make them feel safer. Few retail workers reported having those security measures in place. Of those surveyed, 12% said they have access control systems, 9% have panic buttons, 7% have license plate readers and 6% are using body cameras.
Almost half of respondents said body cameras would help them feel safer, and a majority said the technology can help stores to better understand incidents (66%) and support investigations (66%). Additionally, 42% said body cameras can be a deterrent to aggressive or criminal behavior in stores.
