The retailer already has the features in place in 55 shops, and is about to roll it out to more.10:29, 02 Jul 2026Anyone who does their weekly shop at Sainsbury's is urged to know about a change that's set to come into force in selected stores soon.In a bid to crack down on 'shoplifting and abuse', the supermarket is aiming to expand its use of facial recognition cameras to up to 150 more supermarkets before Christmas.After an earlier trial period, the retailer already has the AI-powered Facewatch system in 55 of its stores nationwide. According to the Grocery Gazette, members of staff are notified when someone who has previously been involved in violence, aggression or theft enters the shop.It's proven to be effective, after the trial period showed that the smart technology stopped nine in ten repeat offenders from coming back, and there was also a major drop in the percentage of theft, harm, aggression and antisocial behaviour in those stores too.The Facewatch technology is said to be 'the only crime prevention tool that proactively identifies known criminals, allowing staff to act before a crime has been committed', according to its website.It reportedly has a 99.98% accuracy rate as well, with the company urging that it's not intended to monitor everyday staff and customers.According to Sainsbury's, every single alert is reviewed by real people before any actions are taken. And if an image of a shopper doesn't match, it's deleted instantly.However, this follows an incident that happened earlier this year, in which innocent shopper Warren Rajah was misidentified and escorted out of a Sainsbury's store in Elephant and Castle.The retailer then issued an apology, and Facewatch noted that the customer wasn't on their database, blaming the situation on human error rather than technology.The supermarket said at the time: "Colleagues should never feel at risk while doing their jobs and customers should always feel comfortable in our stores. That’s why we are taking these steps and why we will continue to put safety first across every part of our business."However, Warren called the ordeal 'humiliating', as he told the BBC: "Am I supposed to walk around fearful that I might be misidentified as a criminal?"Imagine how mentally debilitating this could be to someone vulnerable, after that kind of public humiliation."It's not just Sainsbury's that uses this technology from Facewatch to try and prevent shoplifting and abuse incidents. Stores like B&M, Budgens, Morrisons Daily, Sports Direct and Flannels also operate with it, as well as pharmacies too.