Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Chris Wilkinson: First Retail Group managing director on the results of Foodstuffs North Island's facial recognition trial

Transcript

Chris Wilkinson: First Retail Group managing director on the results of Foodstuffs North Island's facial recognition trial · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Foodstuffs has found that facial recognition technology has reduced serious
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: harm and retail crime and its stores. It's been trialing
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: them in twenty five stores. They say it's avoided and
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: estimated one hundred and thirty serious harmful incidents like assault
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and verbal abuse. The total retail crime down eight percent
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: quarter on quarter, four thousand, seven hundred incidents still between
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: April and during though Chris Wilkinson is the first retail group,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: it's a retail consultancy. Chris, Good morning, Cure, Ryan. Are
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: we sure that it's the facial recognition that's behind the drop?
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Look, there are multiple factors. We've got a new police minister,
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: there's a letter of expectation with the police. There's more
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: determination around the sector and that's had a ripple effect
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: through New Zealand.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: So positively, the camera recognizes somebody and goes, oh, I
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: remember you, you were a bad egg, and then what happens, Well.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: That lets the staff know in the stores and then
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: they can take action so they can make sure that
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: there are more people on the floor to protect those
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: that are vulnerable, to protect the customers. You know, this
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: is all about being proactive in stopping these potential risks
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: to firstly people in terms of safety, but then also
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: that loss. So safety is the key aspect here.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: What do they actually do because up until now it
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: was my understanding the security guards couldn't really force anyone
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: out of the store. So if you're trying to deal
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: with somebody physically who hasn't even committed a crime yet,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: how do you deal with that?
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Well, the likelihood, Ryan, is that people have been trespassed
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: from those premises, so lugally they shouldn't be here. No,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: there won't be that physical altercation. That's the time when
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: police need to be called in. But again we've got
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: much more responsiveness to this now with police because of
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: that letter of expectation.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: It's interesting, So the government's rhetorical messaging is actually having
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: an impact, You.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Reckon, very signisticant intact.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Okay, interesting, Chris, thank you very much for your time.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Chris Wilkinson, First Retail Group Managing Director. It sounds like
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Foodstuffs is liking the cut of this jib and they'll
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: probably I Reckon roll it out into other stores.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: For more from News Talk SEDB. Listen live on air
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: or online and keep
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Our shows with you wherever you go with our podcasts
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio,