Technology

Public line: Cameras are because of theft. Theft is because of cost of living.

I feel that quite a bit is being glossed over. The sources for this article seem very one-sided, I'm also skeptical of the chosen union's line:

Gerard Dwyer, National Secretary of the Shop Distributive & Allied Employees Association, the country's main retail union, said while security technology was being upgraded it was up to the justice system to act as a deterrent by imposing tougher penalties.

I thought that stronger penalties didn't impact this sort of thing? Maybe I misheard.

I would never dob someone in for stealing food, especially if the penalties suddenly got worse, unless I knew a lot about exactly why they were doing it.

Other things worth considering:

(1) Is there a relationship between theft rates and self-checkout rates? They don't want to pay checkout staff, so if there is a correlation (which I suspect they would have researched in depth using their own store data) then it is unlikely they would be public about it. Instead they would only speak about other correlations that are not their fault, like the rising cost of living.

(2) Do these cameras provide other benefits to Colesworth? Better tracking of individuals? Saleable data?