![\"Outside](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/leavenworth-kansas-exterior-walgreens-pharmacy-122832288.jpg\")
Walgreens employees at some Big Apple stores are now wearing body cameras. UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\nWalgreens will equip employees with body cameras in an apparent first in the city \u2014 but \u201cBig Brother\u201d weary New Yorkers say they don\u2019t want to be pharma seen.<\/p>\n
The pharmacy store giant \u2014 which also owns Duane Reade \u2014 kicked off a pilot program it said is aimed at promoting the \u201csafety of both customers and team members.<\/p>\n
But shoppers said the Orwellian tech is the latest thing to transform a trip to the corner store into a visit to a \u201cwar zone\u201d after years of businesses taking extreme measures to combat rampant shoplifting including locking up even basic merchandise behind plexiglass.<\/p>\n
Walgreens employees at some Big Apple stores are now wearing body cameras. UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cBody cameras can help de-escalate conflicts, ultimately contributing to a safer environment for everyone,\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cWe understand the importance of protecting customer privacy and have safeguards in place to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bodycams are not mandatory, however \u2014 employees can decide whether they want to wear the cameras while on the clock.<\/p>\n
The drugstore has not released any additional information on the pilot program, including how it would use the footage.<\/p>\n
Walgreens also hasn\u2019t said <\/a>which, or how many, of its several dozen Big Apple stores, will be enrolled in the pilot program \u2014 leaving its own employees in the dark.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know,\u201d one Brooklyn worker told The Post when asked if her location was asked to participate in the program.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw the news this morning, but we don\u2019t know yet,\u201d she said, adding that she heard rumors that only two stores in the borough were enrolled.<\/p>\n Many customers expressed disdain for the new program, which comes more than a year after Walmart rolled out a similar program elsewhere in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like it\u2019s a huge invasion, but like I say, I think that we\u2019re beyond it, and there\u2019s not a lot we can really do,\u201d Michelle Bullen, 49, told The Post.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of everywhere, or a little bit past that. You can\u2019t leave the house, the MTA, [Walgreens]. You see the story about Wegmans doing the exact same thing, using facial recognition technology.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Jenny, 42, of New Jersey, described the program as \u201cextreme.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey already have security guards at the door. So\u2026 isn\u2019t that enough? Is it getting that bad that we have to be that protected inside?\u201d Jenny, who declined to share her last name, said. <\/p>\n \u201cLike, you go to a bar, and bartenders are not wearing that, and I feel like that\u2019s more dangerous than a pharmacy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The pilot program comes just months after Gov. Kathy Hochul revealed that retail theft had dropped 13%<\/a> between January and June of 2025 compared to the same time period the previous year.<\/p>\n The governor had plunged $40 million into a statewide task force to combat the post-COVID-19 pandemic shoplifting surge that caused big box stores to start locking up goods.<\/p>\n Walgreens reported a 52% increase in \u201cshrink\u201d \u2014 or loss of inventory \u2014 last year after putting most of its merchandise behind glass, but Tim Wentworth, CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, said it was necessary to curb the retail theft he said was akin to a \u201chand-to-hand combat battle.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In June, a security guard at a Midtown Duane Reade was stabbed by a shoplifter who was trying to steal a can of soda. <\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/arizona-state-trooper-law-enforcement-122832248.jpg\")
The pilot program, which is aimed at promoting the \u201csafety of both customers and team members.\u201d AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n