Co-op turns to AI to combat rise in crime

Co-op will use artificial intelligence to combat theft offenders following a spike in crimes, The Guardian has revealed. 

According to the grocer, in the first half of the year crime rose by almost 20% to £40m, which prompted the supermarket to spend £18m on measures to protect staff in its food business, including rolling out body-worn cameras and fortified kiosks.

The retailer also installed AI technology in 14 of its stores to detect if someone has left without paying for an item, or whether someone has entered with a concealed weapon.

The technology is also able to identify if a physical assault against a member of staff is happening and alert a centralised monitoring station to ask for support.

Co-op is also participating in Project Pegasus, the new government-backed scheme in which CCTV images are shared with the police which runs them through databases using facial recognition technology.

Matt Hood, the managing director of food operations, told The Guardian: “It isn’t going away. The reality is that every day four of our colleagues are attacked, up 34% on 2022, and scarily, a further 115 of my colleagues will be seriously abused, up 37% on two years ago.

“I would love to sit here and say yes [there would be a drop in the second half of the year] … that all the money we are investing will pay off. But I think it is going to be slightly longer term than that, and that has to be in conjunction with any changes the government makes to the law.”

The news comes after Co-op reported a return to profit in its half-year results, posting a pre-tax profit of £58m for the half year ended 6 July 2024, up from a loss of £33m in the same period last year.

The results came despite leakage costs (theft and fraud) increasing 19% to £39.5m, up from £33.3m the prior year, as shoplifting rose over the period. In its latest results, the group said it has continued to focus on campaigning on behalf of its staff on retail crime.

Co-op has been contacted for comment.